**Would-be buyers of General Motor’s Opel business have until later on Monday to lodge plans for the firm’s future.**Canadian-Austrian car parts maker Magna International is favourite to buy Opel - which includes Vauxhall in the UK.
Magna, backed by Russia’s Sberbank, wants to use Opel to make an aggressive push into the Russian market.
However, Belgium-based investor RHJ International is manoeuvring to try to make a successful bid - with plans to restructure Opel’s operations.
GM was forced to put Opel up for sale as part of its massive restructuring which saw it go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US - before emerging as a leaner company with less debt.
Opel has been placed under the ownership of a trustee in which both GM and the German government have a stake - making the process of deciding a buyer complex.
Vauxhall commitment
The Magna consortium had looked to certain to win the battle for Opel since May - when the German government’s supported the move.
And last week, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev voiced their support for Magna.
However, Opel’s future has become less clear-cut after RHJ, which is backed by US private equity firm Ripplewood, said last week that its negotiations with GM and Germany were “at an advanced stage”.
Both firms’ plans are thought to involve cutting about 10,000 Opel jobs - and protecting all four German car-making plants.
Magna has now said that “no immediate plant closures are contemplated” at the Vauxhall sites at Luton and Ellesmere Port, which employ about 5,000 people. However, that commitment has only been made to 2013.
RHJ is also expected to support saving both Vauxhall factories - but may ask workers to take pay cuts.
GM is expected to give its preliminary findings on the final bids to the German and other European governments on Wednesday.
Next week GM is expected to have a recommendation ready on which bid to accept. That will be put before its board and the US Treasury, which has a majority stake in GM.