通用汽车放弃出售欧宝引发强烈反应
Germany and Russia yesterday reacted furiously to General Motors' surprise decision to keep Opel rather than sell it, throwing up fresh uncertainty about the future direction of one of Europe's biggest carmakers.
德国和俄罗斯昨日对通用汽车(General Motors)出人意料地决定不出售欧宝(Opel)品牌作出了激烈反应。通用汽车的决定为这家欧洲最大汽车制造商之一未来的命运带来了新的不确定性。
The news that GM's board had abandoned the sale of Opel/Vauxhall to Canada's Magna and Russia's Sberbank also led to a schism among the carmaker's workers, with UK employees hailing a “fantastic decision” while Germans said they would start warning strikes today in protest.
通用汽车董事会已放弃将欧宝/沃克斯豪尔(Opel/Vauxhall)出售给加拿大的麦格纳(Magna)和俄罗斯的Sberbank。这一消息也导致了通用汽车内部工人分成两派——英国雇员欢呼雀跃，称这是一个“极好的决定”，而德国工人则表示，他们将于今日开始发出罢工警告，以示抗议。
Jürgen Rüttgers, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where GM proposes closing a factory, said: “General Motors' behaviour shows the ugly face of turbo-capitalism. That is completely unacceptable.”
德国北威州州长于尔根•吕特格尔斯(Jürgen Rüttgers)表示：“通用汽车的行为展示了涡轮资本主义丑陋的面孔。这是完全不可接受的。”通用汽车计划关闭北威州的一间工厂。
GM's decision pitches the Detroit-based company into a new confrontation with the German government over Opel. At the heart of the controversy is whether Berlin would ever allow Opel to go bankrupt or step in to support GM financially. GM said yesterday it would need about €3bn in financing to restructure Opel and that it would ask European governments for money. But Berlin, which was offering Magna €4.5bn ($6.6bn) in state aid, is instead asking GM to pay back a €1.5bn bridging loan it gave to the US carmaker.
通用汽车的决定，使这家总部位于底特律的公司与德国政府就欧宝问题陷入了新的对抗。争议的核心在于，德国政府究竟是会放任欧宝破产，还是会在财务上对通用汽车提供支持。通用汽车昨日表示，它将需要筹措大约30亿欧元资金对欧宝进行重组，而它将请求欧洲政府给予资金援助。但向麦格纳提供45亿欧元（合66亿美元）政府援助的德国，则要求通用汽车偿还它借与通用汽车的15亿欧元过桥贷款。
“The behaviour of General Motors towards Germany is totally unacceptable,” said Germany's new economics minister, Rainer Brüderle.
德国新任经济部长莱纳•布吕德勒(Rainer Brüderle)表示：“通用汽车对待德国的行为完全不可接受。”
People close to the US carmaker admitted there was “a certain kind of brinksmanship” involved in its decision to retain Opel and present a new restructuring plan. “If GM cannot finance it, then they will go for a controlled insolvency with a much more brutal restructuring and even more plant closures,” said a person close to GM.
熟悉通用汽车的人士坦言，通用汽车保留欧宝并提交新重组计划的决定，存在“某种边缘政策的意味”。一位知情人士表示：“如果通用汽车无法筹措到重组资金，他们将力求进行有控制的破产，实施更为残酷的重组方案，关闭更多工厂。”
Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, also reacted angrily to the news. A spokesman quoted him as saying Magna and Sberbank would conduct a “legal analysis” of the matter. But Magna itself said it accepted GM's decision.
俄罗斯总理弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)也对该消息作出了愤怒回应。一位发言人引用他的话说，麦格纳和Sberbank会对该事件进行“法律分析”。但麦格纳自身表示接受通用汽车的决定。
译者/董琴
