GM chief apologises for the handling of Opel, Magna deal

US automaker General Motors' chief executive has apologised for the company's handling of the failed sale of its subsidiary Opel to Canadian manufacturer Magna and Russian investment bank Sperbank.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson expressed "deep regret" for shocking the nation and provoking outrage among government leaders, trade unions and Opel workers by an unexpected announcement last week to cancel the deal and instead to keep Germany's second largest car manufacturer under its fold.

"It was not our intention to surprise anybody, although now we know that we have done that. We deeply regret it," he said in a German television interview.

His comments came after the German Chancellor Angela Merkel sharply criticised the company for cancelling the sale, which was supported by Germany's government as the best option for saving a major part of around 25,000 jobs in the country.

"For months, the General Motors was not in a position even to nearly fulfil its responsibility towards Opel," Merkel said in her first comment on the aborted deal yesterday in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.

"I extremely regret the decision by the General Motors," the chancellor said.

The proposed sale of Opel to Magna was preferred by the German government because Magna had promised to keep all four production locations in this country and to lay off a maximum of only 2,600 German workers.