German government officials held a fresh round of talks today with representatives of ailing US carmaker General Motors (GM) and its German subsidiary Opel, according to dpa. The meeting at Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in Berlin discussed state aid for the GM offshoot, which reportedly needs 7 billion euros (8.87 billion dollars) to stay afloat. GM presented its own rescue plan to the government on Monday, but Merkel told the company's head of European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, that the measures did not go far enough. Taking part in Friday's talks were German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, top finance ministry official Joerg Asmussen, Forster, GM Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson and Opel chief executive Hans Demant. The talks come a day after European Union Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen called for a crisis meeting of EU states hosting GM plants.
