Rüsselsheim, Germany – Opel has confirmed a meeting with the German Federal Chancellery to talk about possible government guarantees for the automaker, which is a subsidiary of General Motors and which said it could be affected by GM’s economic situation in the United States.

“Opel does not have a short-term liquidity problem,” said Carl-Peter Forster, president of General Motors Europe and Supervisory Board President of Adam Opel GmbH. Instead, he said, the talks were required in the worst-case scenario that financial flows from the U.S. would no longer be possible, and that it would become necessary to secure Opel’s competitiveness. In this case, a government guarantee could be a solution. “We are not talking about subsidies, rather a protective umbrella of available liquidity in the worst case,” Forster said.

Opel representatives said that the meeting was conducted in a “very constructive and open atmosphere”, and said they are “reassured that their request was listened to seriously and will be so considered.” Forster said that Opel management feels “duty bound to work toward the goal of securing the future of this traditional brand.”