With the situation in the car industry worsening day by day, it can't be much of a surprise to hear about a takeover bid. But though an American company is involved, it's the European arm of GM, Opel, that has attracted interest from a German company Solarworld.

SolarWorld, one of the biggest solar companies in Germany wants to acquire a car business and turn it into Europe's first green car company, making electric and hybrid cars. They've offered €1 billion, which is exactly the amount that Opel has asked for the German government to bail them out by.

© Greenpeace

While GM is adamant that “Opel is not for sale,” concerns have been raised that the fact that the third largest solar company in Germany is looking beyond its core business could mean that there are problems with the core business. But SolarWorld's Chairman revealed that they are already working on the development of solar-fuelled cars that are powerful enough to take compete in motor racing. If that doesn't sound like a high performance zero emissions car in the making, I don't know what does.

Though we shouldn't get too excited about this bid that some commentators have dismissed as a gag, at the very least it sends a clear message to the car industry that if they can’t make money out of green cars, someone else will.