General Motors announced today that it is considering the sale of a transmission plant located at Strasbourg, France.  The sale would include a manufacturing plant along with engineering and product development facilities tied to the plant.  The company said it has hired a firm to seek potential buyers for the facility, but G.M. may have chosen the worst time in a decade to sell anything automotive in Europe as the region's economy teeters on recession and auto sales have slowed to a crawl.

"G.M. believes continued business opportunities for the Strasbourg operation are possible with a new investor," the company said on its web site.  "The company intends to pursue potential buyers that will continue operations with the existing workforce, supply base and customers.  G.M. also will continue to study internal powertrain programs for possible production in Strasbourg."

G.M. said about 1,000 people work at the Strasbourg operations that last year produced approximately 280,000 six-speed automatic transmissions, mostly for customers outside of Europe.