Opel-Magna-Fiat

Peter Struck, leader of the Social Democrat parliamentary faction in the German Bundestag, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper to be published on Sunday that Guttenberg was "too hesitant" and had to be "more courageous" in his approach.

At the same time, Struck expressed his sympathies for the takeover concept proposed by the Austrian-Canadian auto parts manufacturer, Magna.

According to a report in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Magna is prepared to keep all Opel production facilities operating in the event of a takeover, including Kaiserslautern, which takeover competitor, Fiat, said it would close.

On Friday, Minister Guttenberg mentioned the possibility of bankruptcy for Opel if no adequate rescue plan was presented by next Wednesday.

Opel dealers, for the first time, have also offered to take a 10-15 percent stake in the company to help keep the carmaker afloat. The investment is valued at some 500 million euros.

Fiat to submit revised rescue plan

Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, has said he will present his revised plan for Opel to the German government on May 20, the deadline set by Berlin.

Turning to US carmaker Chrysler, in which Fiat has agreed to take a 20 percent stake, Marchionne said he would run it for a short time to get it restarted.

He added that there would be a meeting with Italian unions and the government when clear ideas emerged on what would happen over the plans to create a European automaker that includes Fiat, Opel, Britain's Vauxhall and Sweden's Saab.

In Turin, meanwhile, several hundred Fiat workers protested on Saturday against plans to close some of the company's plants in Italy.

gb/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer