With a decision on a preferred bidder for Opel expected to be announced by the German government as early as tomorrow Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and Vice-Chairman John Elkann will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg in Berlin today. At the same time as Fiat's senior management are making their case, all the three parties - Fiat, Magna and RHJ - which are vying to grab a stake are expected to make a final appeal to Opel's unions today.

Magna International has emerged in the last week as the preferred bidder with national and regional governments, and especially with Opel's powerful IG Metall union. German daily newspaper Bild reported yesterday that Merkel and Guttenberg (who is leading the negotiations to find a bidder) met with the Canadian-Austrian company's representatives on Sunday. Magna foresees acquiring a 20 percent stake in Opel with Russia's Sberbank taking 35 percent, Opel's employees getting 10 percent, and with GM retaining the balance of 35 percent. Unlike the Fiat bid, the Magna consortium will invest capital into Opel alongside a significant infusion of billions of euros that will come from the government.

German government officials and union bosses have expressed themselves to be concerned that Fiat's bid, which would see it wrest overall control of Opel, could lead to significant model and geographical overlap and result in major job losses. Fiat has reportedly said that it will keep all Opel's German plants open, but has shifted its position on this and the unions have complained publically that it hasn't made itself clear. Private equity house Ripplewood Holdings has put in a bid to take a 51 percent stake in Opel through its European division RHJ International but is regarded as the rank outsider, while another scenario, that of the option of insolvency, was raised by Guttenberg in the media over the weekend.

Today, negotiators from Magna International and RHJ International are both expected to meet Opel labour representatives at its Rüsselsheim headquarters to press their case in a final round of talks. A spokeswoman for Opel supervisory board member and labour representative Armin Schild said yesterday that Fiat could also attend these negotiations. As Fiat fights to make its case it has also been reported that Marchionne and Elkann will fly to Germany to meet with Merkel and Guttenberg today.