TURNAROUND EXPERT TO HEAD OPEL

       US auto-maker General Motors has named executive vice president Nick Reilly as interim head of its Opel and Vauxhall operations in Europe and on Tuesday said it had begun to pay back emergency German loans.
       Reilly "will immediately assume responsibility for the operations of Opel/Vauxhall Europe while an external search for a new chief executive officer commences", GM said in Detroit, Michigan.
       Reilly, a specialist in turning around troubled operations, "will support the European leadership team in running the business and will oversee the creation of a strategy to position Opel/Vauxhall for long-term success."
       Former GM Europe chief executive Carl=Peter Forster is stepping down following the parent group's decision to hang onto Opel/Vauxhall and restructure the companies itself.
       Forster had backed the sale of the two brands to Canadian auto-parts manufacturer Magna and its Russian partner, Sberbank.
       Meanwhile, GM said it had paid back 200 million euro (Bt10 billion) of a bridging loan provided by Germany to keep Opel running and would reimburse the balance this month.
       "We now have an outstanding balance of 600 million euro," said GM Europe finance director Enrico Digirolamo.
       German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday again stressed Berlin wanted its money back after GM chose to keep Opel, a decision Merkel said she "regretted enormously".
       GM is now expected quickly to submit a plan on how it will get Opel back on its feet.
       The German authorities had pushed hard for Opel's sale to Magna and Sberbank, because of assurances from the prospective buyers that no German plants would subsequently be shut down - a guarantee GM has not given.
       GM's ditching of the sale to Magna cuased an uproar in Berlin last week.
       The government had granted a loan of 1.5 billion euro to tide Opel over and was set to make another 3 billion euro available as loan guarantees.
       However, Opel has tapped only about 900 million euro of the initial credit.
       GM chef executive Fritz Henderson said the group would need about 3 billion euro in financing to restructure Opel/Vauxhall but also recentlt suggested GM might have other means to fund the operation.
       Meanwhile, Reilly, a British national who once worked at Vauxhall, will maintain the overall direction of GM's international operations from Shanghai, China, the company said - further evidence his German stay will be temporary.
       Henderson and Reilly toured Opel headquarters in Russelsheim, near Frankfurt, and on Tuesday met with the head of the workers council.
       "As we announced last Tuesday, Opel/Vauxhall will remain a fully intergrated member of the Newk GM family, a decision that is in the best interests of Opel/Vauxhall, its customers, employees, other stakeholders and GM," Henderson was quoted as saying.
       "With his deep experience with the Opel and Vauxhall brands, Nick is well suited to lead this transition and to work towards the earliest possible normalisation of the business."
       Reilly, a Cambridge University graduate, was hired by GM in 1975 and previosuly helped turn around operations at Daewoo in South Korea.