The board of General Motors will start convening on the fate of the embattled German unit Opel, an issue that has been unsettled to this day. Though many critics speculated that GM would retain Opel despite that various bidders for the company, nothing clear has been seen on what the actual route Opel will really take.

The board meeting is slated for two days as the board meeting aims to tackle this German unit which employs over 25,000 people in Germany alone. Among the bidders who showed interest in acquiring Opel included Magna International Inc. and Russian state-backed bank Sberbank. A third bidder in RHJ International of Brussels is also in the mix although it has shared that it will not be keeping as many employees if it does acquire Opel.

(Source) Metro News

Tags: bidders, board meeting, brussels, General Motors, german unit, Germany, GM, magna international, magna international inc, metro news, Opel, rhj international, russian state

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Among the plans of Ford to enhance its car product line is to build on electric, hybrid and plug-in cars in the next couple of years and their first electric car is targeted to be finished and released by 2011 in North America.

This was barred by Ford in the wake of the shift in attention towards battery-powered vehicles. They have set a modest sales target of 5,000 to 10,000 units for the urban market and Ford is determined to cement its place towards providing ideal transportation choices for motorists today.

Ford, the No. 2 U.S.-based automaker, said it was working with auto parts supplier Magna International (MGa.TO) to bring a small battery-powered car to market in North America in 2011, using a lithium-ion battery, with a range of up to 100 miles per charge.

(Source) Reuters

Tags: battery powered car, battery powered vehicles, Cars, electric car, Ford, hybrid, lithium, lithium ion battery, magna international, north america

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