Berlin divided over state aid to carmaker Opel

The logo of Opel is seen at the plant in Bochum November 4, 2009.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet sent conflicting signals at the weekend over whether the government should provide aid to Opel, suggesting divisions within her government on the issue.

Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he expected Opel's U.S. parent General Motors to shoulder the full burden of a restructuring of Opel.

"It is the responsibility of the parent company GM to overcome the problems at its Opel unit," said Bruederle, a member of the Free Democrats (FDP).

He left the door open to regional aid for Opel from the four states where the carmaker has plants, but said he did not expect GM to come to Berlin for federal funds.

His comments appeared to contradict those of Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), who told the Wirtschaftswoche weekly that the government could not refuse to provide aid now that GM had decided to hold onto Opel.

Berlin had pledged to contribute 4.5 billion euros in financing as part of a takeover of Opel by Canadian auto parts group Magna. GM reversed course earlier this month and decided it would rather keep Opel than sell a majority stake in it to Magna.

"We simply can't say that for Magna we would have done all we could because we feel a responsibility toward the people and the plants, but then turn around and rule that out for another owner," Schaeuble said.

Separately, Opel board member Armin Schild of the IG Metall labor union told the same weekly magazine that he expected restructuring costs to be roughly double the 3.3 billion euros GM has indicated it needs to overhaul Opel.

"I assume that a restructuring that also lays the foundations for future development would cost over 6 billion euros, probably closer to 7 billion euros," Schild told Wirtschaftswoche.

After its decision to keep Opel, GM is expected to present a restructuring plan for the carmaker, which employs about 50,000 staff in Europe, half of those at four plants in Germany.

GM Chairman Ed Whitacre was quoted in a German newspaper recently saying his company was financially strong enough to shoulder the costs of an Opel restructuring on its own. But GM Europe has said it will need help from governments.

(Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Hans Peters)