GENERAL MOTORS is looking at shelving a German-backed bailout of its Opel European car arm amid growing fears that long-running talks on the deal will end in failure.

The US carmaker and its advisers are studying a scenario that would see GM abandon the German plan and instead raise roughly €3 billion of rescue funds for Opel and its British Vauxhall brand from the US and other European governments, including the UK and Spain.

Germany, keen to protect its thousands of Opel workers, agreed to bankroll a bid, and lined up behind Canadian parts maker Magna International and Russia’s Sberbank. The management of GM, which emerged from bankruptcy in July, believes the terms of the Magna bid are too onerous, and a rival bid from RHJ, a Brussels-based industrial group, would be easier to implement.

“Germany [has] expressed interest in having Magna, but there might be other [financing] sources,” a person with knowledge of GM’s plans said yesterday. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)