GENERAL MOTORS

Belgian Opel workers learned the Antwerp plant will close this year, with the loss of 2,600 jobs, as U.S. car maker General Motors said it would make labor and capacity cuts at all its European sites.

U.S. carmaker General Motors will close its Opel plant in the Belgian port city of Antwerp, sources said on Wednesday, slamming the door on hopes to save the jobs of the site's 2,300 staff.

Japan has changed its auto replacement incentive program to give U.S. cars more chance to qualify after the United States complained its automakers were shut out, the Japanese government said on Tuesday.

U.S. carmaker General Motors GM.UL will close its Opel plant in the Belgian port city of Antwerp, sources said on Wednesday, slamming the door on hopes to save the jobs of the site's 2,300 staff.

Investment firm Genii Capital said liquidators had yet to start removing vital assets from Swedish carmaker Saab's facilities, and said it remained upbeat about its chances of buying the loss-making firm from General Motors.

Dutch luxury car maker Spyker Cars said on Monday it was still in talks to buy Swedish auto brand Saab from General Motors, but gave no indication of when a deal might be clinched.

Opel management called on staff to abandon any false illusions that parent General Motors was the root cause of the ailing European carmaker's problems and accept its own shortcomings.

Dutch sports car maker Spyker denied on Sunday it had plans to jointly bid for General Motors' Saab with Luxembourg investment firm Genii Capital.

General Motors Co disclosed on Friday that director Stephen Girsky is receiving compensation worth $900,000 per year plus expenses to act as a special adviser to Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Whitacre.

General Motors' German unit Opel appointed a new management team on Friday led by Nick Reilly as chief executive and a close ally, Mark James, as finance chief.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday that the U.S. economy is nowhere near a full recovery and forecast 2010 as a year of moderate growth for the nation's automotive industry sales.

The head of General Motors Co's China operations said on Wednesday that GM is still awaiting Beijing's approval for a deal to sell Hummer and that he is uncertain of the outcome.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday that the U.S. economy is nowhere near a full recovery and forecast 2010 as a year of moderate growth for the nation's automotive industry sales.

Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc forecast 2010 sales of $19.5 billion to $20.5 billion and said it would spend $750 million to $800 million for fixed assets during the year.

Dutch sports car maker Spyker is working around the clock to clinch a deal to buy Sweden's Saab and has a deadline of days not weeks as parent General Motors GM.UL starts winding down the business, Spyker's CEO said on Tuesday.

Luxembourg-based Genii Capital is working to improve its offer for ailing Swedish carmaker Saab, a spokesman for the investment firm said on Tuesday.

U.S. automakers and officials at the Detroit auto show struck an optimistic yet cautious tone on Monday as they sought to put a toxic year of slumping sales and massive government aid behind.

GM Europe's GM.UL Vauxhall and Opel car sales may fall as much as 5 percent in 2010, as tentative signs of economic recovery are offset by the end of scrapping incentive schemes, its CEO said on Tuesday.

U.S. auto executives and elected officials at the Detroit auto show on Monday sought to draw a curtain on a year of appalling sales and massively unpopular government aid.

Top automotive industry executives gathered at the media preview for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, starting on Sunday.

U.S. automakers and officials at the Detroit auto show struck an optimistic yet cautious tone on Monday as they sought to put a toxic year of slumping sales and massive government aid behind.