China's BAIC drops out of Opel talks

General Motors, OpelZurich  - China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC) is out of the bidding race for General Motors' (GM) European offshoot Opel, the US car giant confirmed Thursday.

"We have agreed to continue the negotiations to secure the future of Opel with Magna and RHJI," said John Smith, who is leading the talks on behalf of GM.

Rival bids from Canadian-Austrian car parts manufacturer Magna and RHJI, the European offshoot of US investor Ripplewood, were the focus of a 4-hour meeting with politicians in Berlin the previous day.

The German delegation made clear its support for the Magna-led bid, which also includes the Russian state-bank Sberbank and Russian carmaker GAZ.

GM, on the other hand, favours the proposals of Belgium-based RHJI for Opel, which also includes the British Vauxhall car brand.

Speaking in Zurich, Smith said the discussion had been a "good exchange of ideas" about the key elements of the bids.

Nevertheless, the talks in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Berlin office also revealed that further clarification was still required.(dpa)