By Lenaig Bredoux

FRANKFURT, GERMANY - For many Germans, Opel is a victim of the problems that threaten to bankrupt its parent company, US auto giant General Motors Corp.

Some, notably Opel executives, call for more independence from GM, although the German subsidiary must also deal with its own issues as the global auto sector hits the brakes.

"Opel is not in crisis. We make good cars," works committee leader Klaus Franz told radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk. "What we need is more independence."

Opel boss Hans Demant told the same station: "We only have a problem in connection with our parent company in the United States," which is flirting with bankruptcy.

On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government would decide before late December whether or not to provide state guarantees for loans Opel would need to secure if GM hit the wall - even as her finance minister ruled out a rescue for the whole auto sector.

"Opel is a special case," Merkel said.

What makes Opel different is that it gets financing from GM and would find itself in dire straits if the parent company failed.

Opel has also had a run of poor performances, losing market share steadily with cars considered poorly made and not in tune with consumer trends.

After implementing a programme of deep restructuring, the company has begun to turn things around and has become one of two main research centres run by GM worldwide.

"GM Europe is a good company with interesting brands, a nice range of products and a functioning distribution network," IHS Global Insight analyst Christoph Stuermer told AFP.

Besides Opel, GM produces Saab and Vauxhall automobiles in Europe.

The international economic slump and financial crisis that has slammed GM now threatens to derail Opel's recovery and as a result, there are growing calls for more independence, or even an outright separation from GM. "It's a nice dream; with all of General Motors Europe, it would be as big as Fiat," Stuermer said.

While experts agree that GM deserves credit for sticking by Opel when it went through a crisis in the 1980s, they also point out that the US group is partly if not largely responsible for its subsidiary's troubles.

They are "due around 80-85% to the parent group," said Metzler bank auto expert Juergen Pieper.

"At the center of GM's strategy, there was no more product innovation, just a maximisation of short term gains."

GM Europe was often a transition post for the group's directors, who stayed just a few years and often disrupted management as they passed through, analysts said.

Above all, for many years GM took the profits from its European brands to the parent company, they added.

"For example, the financing activities (of GM) ... are all located in the United States, even when they concern Opel products. The profit never showed up at Opel," said Stuermer.

He estimated the sums involved amounted to "several billion euros in the past five years."

Other experts are more cautious about the chances of a stand-alone European company.

"According to our calculations, since 2000, not a year has passed without losses at GM Europe," said German auto expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer.

"GM Europe is anything but a model enterprise."

It is also unlikely that investors would be interested in a new company while the sector as a whole is mired in a deep slump - European auto sales fell 15% in October.