GM And Germany: Better The Devil You Know

General Motors' biggest mistake of this year was to offer to give up its German subsidiary, Opel, without a serious fight. As I write this, the deal isn't done and the new GM board of directors, opposing the management, is trying to hold on to Opel.

The board is right. Not just for the 1-million-plus vehicle sales a year of GM in Europe, but because Opel is the engineering heart of GM's front-wheel-drive cars in the U.S.

The German government, which probably will be pressured to put up several billion Euros to save Opel, has been against GM hanging on. But it shouldn't be that hard to convince the Germans to reverse course. After all, consider the other bidders:

--A private equity group, Belgium-based RHJ International. It will buy, then sell, which no one should want.

--Fiat ( FIATY.PK - news - people ), with a mission to save jobs in Italy, not in Germany.

--The Russians. No one should want to partner with the Russians. The last time I visited the auto industry there, the leaders had extremely thick necks and musclemen with machine guns stood guard in the receptionist's office. I don't think things have changed. And my writing partner was later murdered on the streets of Moscow.

What GM should do to change the German government's attitude:

--Find a new German boss to run Opel. Some of the best auto men in the world are loose in Germany now. There's always a Wolfgang or a Wendelin or a Bernd around, someone from Daimler or Porsche ( PSEPF.PK - news - people ) or Volkswagen ( VLKAF.PK - news - people ). They all have reputations in the country--and grudges. (And just in case, there's always that master of all trades, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz, who was one of the best--if not the best ever--heads of Ford in Germany.)

--Convince Germany's unions that GM is the best for saving jobs, especially with Wolfgang or Wendelin or Bernd, or even Bob, at the steering wheel.

After all, how difficult should it be to convince the German government that letting its old friend GM keep Opel is the safe course? As my first wife used to say, "Better the devil you know ..."