General Motors (GM) is currently the world's second largest automobile original equipment manufacturer based on vehicle sales volume. GM sells cars, trucks and crossover vehicles, and offers vehicle leases and loans through GM Financial.

GM's business is diversified across products and geographic markets, with operations and sales in over 120 countries. In China, GM operates primarily through its three joint ventures. General Motors competes with players like Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), Ford (F), Daimler (DAI), Volkswagen and Hyundai.

We recently launched coverage of the company with a Trefis Price estimate of $45 for GM's stock, which is about 25% above the current market price of $36.

If you recall the the US government engineered the bankruptcy and restructuring of General Motors. Negotiations have dragged out for months and now, finally, GM will sell it Opel holdings to Magna and a Russian Consortium of state owned Sherbank and GAZ One component of the plan was for GM to sell off some of its assets to raise cash.

GM will still retain 35% ownership of Opel. Magna and Sherbank would each own 27.5% and Opel employees would hold 10%.

The General Motors' board is starting its two-day meeting today, and it is believed that the company is going to decide what will happen to the German Opel automobile unit. There are other topics to be discussed, including a new marketing campaign and preparation for a public offering of stock so the automaker can repay the U.S. taxpayers.

Nevertheless, the major news will be the company's decision about Opel -- what should General Motors do? Is it smart for the company to give up a portion of its market share in Europe in order to stabilize American sales? Reuters examined several scenarios General Motors might face.

According to the Financial Times, General Motors (NYSE: GM) expects "as many as three bids" for a strategic stake in its European arm by today's deadline. GM Europe spokesman Chris Preuss stated, "Based on conversations that are ongoing, the expectation is that there will be three bids put on the table." GM expects to rake in $887 million for the division.

The report quotes "two people close to the deal, who requested anonymity" as saying the three bids could come from Fiat, Canadian parts manufacturer Magna, and Brussels firm RHJ International.

After partnering up with newly bankrupt Chrysler LLC, Italian automaker Fiat SpA is now interested in acquiring the Opel unit of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM). In fact, according to German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Fiat is seeking to integrate its recent and future auto acquisitions into a new global car alliance.

After meeting with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, zu Guttenberg told reporters that the Italian firm would need estimated bridge financing of 5 billion to 7 billion euros to facilitate its planned partnership with GM Europe. The Opel unit, combined with Fiat's own operations and its stake in Chrysler LLC, would form the new alliance.

For Detroit automaker General Motors (NYSE: GM) the tough times are being felt outside of the United States as sales declines in Europe are forcing the troubled manufacturer to suspend production at some European factories.

As the financial crisis that is being felt in America continues to spread, demand for autos outside of the country are also feeling the pressure, and in August, sales in Europe fell by 16%. As a result, General Motors has decided that it needs to reduce its 2008 production by about 40,000 vehicles by the end of the year.

To accomplish this production shift, the company is going to be shutting down several factories for a few weeks. Starting next week, GM's factory in Eisenach, Germany, where the company produces its Opel brand, is going to start a three-week shut down period. This news comes as another of the company's factories, one in Bochum, Germany is completing a current two-week shut down period to help reduce the company's inventories. Other temporary shut downs are taking place in England and Spain.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal may soon announce an agreement with TiVo Inc (NASDAQ: TIVO), a rival of Nielsen Media Research, for access to TiVo's viewership ratings data, as well as to sell its advertisers TiVo products such as interactive tags used to identify an advertiser on their ad.
• The WSJ also reported that pressure from the White House and Congress, as well as its own internal debate, may kill the FCC's proposal to impose tougher regulations on the cable industry.

WEB SITES:

• Hedge fund Ziff Asset Management disclosed a 6.4% stake in Office Depot Inc (NYSE: ODP) Monday, making it the second-largest holder with 17.6M shares, according to Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column.
• In an effort to build increasing demand for Western cars, General Motors Corporation's (NYSE: GM) Europe branch is set to built high-volume Opels in Russia, AutoNews.com reported.