GM to sell Opel to Canadian auto parts maker Magna

General Motors has agreed to sell its Germany-based Opel division to Canadian auto group Magna International (MGA), GM management said Thursday, ending speculation that GM was looking to hang onto the European unit. Several key issues need to be worked out in the coming weeks, GM said, with the deal set to close "within the next few months."

The decision brings to close months of hand-wringing about what GM would do with Opel, which employs 25,000 people in Germany. Magna was the German government's preferred bidder as the Ontario-based concern had pledged to keep all of Opel's German manufacturing plants open.