Just days after the German government named Magna International as its preferred bidder for Opel once Fiat had walked away from the process comes spreading belief in the media that the Italian carmaker could be back in the frame if the Austro-Canadian firm cannot reach an agreement to take over.

Last Friday morning Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne failed to turn up to a crunch meeting that was to decide on the future of GM Europe's Opel/Vauxhall unit citing a lack of access to the books that simply made it impossible to formulate a proposal. This left the way for the only remaining bidder, Magna International, to agree outline terms for a takeover with the German government and thus release a bridging loan of 1.5 billion euros that was needed to keep Opel in operation.

The framework of this complex deal was agreed in the early hours of Monday morning, but ever since there has been much disquiet that Magna actually offers the best way forward for Opel while Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has openly said that he favours a managed bankruptcy procedure. However Siegfried Wolf, the co-CEO of Magna said yesterday that he expected the deal to be completed in four or five weeks and the whole process of the new equity structure to be fully in place by September. Magna's bid is being financed by Russia's Sberbank which will take a 35 percent stake. Magna will get 20 percent slice with GM retaining 35 percent and the Opel workers taking up the balance.

Yesterday though the German government stated that the bidding process was still open to other parties despite the on-going negotiations with Magna. "The process is still open to all candidates," spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told reporters. Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) was a late entrant into the bidding process and the Chinese carmaker hadn't formulated its offer by the time last Friday's meeting got underway. However with BAIC saying that they would require less state aid than any of the other bidders, this offer could having its attractions. German newspapers reported that BAIC representatives met government officials on Tuesday. 

Fiat "still has a card to play" in the Opel situation, according to Claudio Scajola, Italian Minister of Economic Development, reported AGI today. Scajola talked about Fiat's chances during the general assembly of the National Shoe Factory Association. "Fiat's industrial plan was the best, out of the plans presented. It is a plan with an outlook: the first choice that the German Government and General Motors made was based on financial considerations, and it was influenced by the current German political climate. I hope." Scajola added, "that the meaning of the announcement made by Chancellor Angela Merkel is that this transitory management phase by the German government and GM will lead them, in the next six months, to reconsider the project, in the interests of Europe, which needs a great automotive group. There is no doubt that to be able to compete, in this sector, aggregation is needed, and Fiat thought of it first, and with a good plan." There has also been speculation in the Italian media that Premier Silvio Berlusconi could intervene on behalf of Fiat.