AS the bidding war for General Motors Europe hots up, both suitors have made last-minute adjustments to their offers, according to inside sources.
General Motors in the USA, the trust which now runs its European arm, and the German government are jointly due to decide soon on which of the rival bidders will be successful in taking over Vauxhall Motors in the UK and its German sister-company, Opel.
Meanwhile, the fate of 5,000 Vauxhall jobs, including those of hundreds of people from Wrexham and Flintshire who work at the Ellesmere Port plant, hangs in the balance.
There were reports yesterday that one of the bidders, Canadian-based car parts manufacturer, Magna International, had amended details of its offer.
GM is understood to have been unhappy with some aspects of the Magna proposal, which it asked the company to address in a new submission.
Magna is thought to be favoured by the German government, which is expected to provide financing to support Opel’s operations. Magna’s deal is also backed by Sberbank, the Russian bank.
The US-based Autoblog reported yesterday that the other bidder, Belgian investment firm RHJ, is now considered a front-runner.
Its chief executive officer, Leonhard Fischer, has already told UK officials that the company is committed to retaining the Vauxhall name, and speaking to German newspaper Handelsblatt, he said he likes his chances in the run for Opel.
The blog says that Opel workers still want GM to settle on Magna and have asked the German government to “nudge” GM to make that happen.
In response, RHJ is said to be considering lowering the amount of aid it will request from the federal government to an amount that is €900 million ($1.27billion) lower than the number Magna has requested.
RHJ would then pay GM less in royalties to make up the loss.