Berlin - Germany is ruling out state funding for RHJI, one of two bidders vying for General Motors' (GM) European subsidiary Opel, state premiers told the German media on Saturday.

Belgian-based investment group RHJ International and Austrian- Canadian car supplier Magna International are the two contenders left in negotiations with GM over the sale of Opel, which also includes the British Vauxhall car brand.

Roland Koch, the Premier of Hesse where Opel has a large factory, said it had been made clear in discussions with GM, "that in Germany there will be no consensus on financing an entry by RHIJ," in an interview with German newspaper Wirtschaftswoche.

Dieter Althaus, the Premier of Thuringia where Opel is also present, told German daily Bild: "The federal and state guarantees are available for the Magna concept, but not for that of a competitor which puts the future of Opel at stake again."

German unions and the governments of all four German states where Opel has operations have previously thrown their weight behind the Magna consortium, which also includes Russian state-owned Sberbank and Russian carmaker GAZ.

"Germany cannot be blackmailed with the alternatives RHJI or bankruptcy," Koch said, adding that GM now understood the German position.

"The American government wants no fight with Germany," the Hesse premier added.

GM has previously expressed its preference for the RHJI bid, considering the finance investor's proposal easier to implement. This option could also pave the way for a future GM-buyback.

GM is being placed under increased German pressure, Bild reported, saying that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had spoken to GM-chief Fritz Henderson on Friday.

Steinmeier reportedly said state guarantees would only be available for a long-term investor who could also guarantee jobs at Opel.

Althaus said he presumed Chancellor Angela Merkel would use her influence with US President Barack Obama to protect Opel employees.

While the Opel negotiations are dragging on, Koch said time was of the essence, and that GM was losing 100 million euros (142 million dollars) every month.

With elections due in Germany in September, Koch said, "Nobody wants to postpone the decision until after the federal election."

Figures released by Opel show that a German car scrapping scheme, which encourages people to trade in their old bangers for new vehicles, has led to sales figures of around 219,000 cars since the start of the year, an increase of a third over the same period last year.

Earlier in the year, the German state provided Opel with a 1.5- billion-euro bridging loan to rescue it from the bankruptcy of General Motors. (dpa)