Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors, has opened its books to BAIC, a Chinese company which is trying to outbid the current front runner, dpa cited a Frankfurt newspaper as disclosing lateToday. Quoting GM sources, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) was preparing a detailed bid and had already offered more attractive conditions than Canadian-based Magna. Magna is currently in negotiations as preferred bidder with GM on a plan that would allow Russian car factories to make Opel cars while keeping the German plants open. An earlier bid by Fiat, which would have reduced factory overcapacity in Europe, failed to convince Berlin. In a report to appear in print Friday, the newspaper said state-owned BAIC had obtained permission for a due-diligence inspection in the next few days of Opel financial data. BAIC might then follow through by filing a bid with the Dresdner Kleinwort bank, which is advising GM on the sale. Magna's bid in tandem with Sberbank of Russia is conditional on public subsidies to Opel.
