Opel's future

After meeting with other senior members of the cabinet on Thursday, Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said he expected Italy's Fiat and Canadian-Austrian auto parts maker Magna International to present their plan for General Motors Corp.'s ailing Opel unit by May 20. GM is facing a deadline of June 1 to either restructure or file for bankruptcy.

If GM were to fail, Guttenberg said the government would consider fencing off its assets in Germany and placing them in a trust. This would allow more time for negotiations with potential bidders for GM Europe, which makes Opel and Vauxhall cars.

Fiat has said it wants to make GM Europe part of a global powerhouse, while Magna has shown interest in taking a minority stake in Opel.

Guttenberg said a trust would only take effect if there was a sustainable proposal on the table from at least one potential investor.

Transferring the German assets to a trust would mean they could not be seized by creditors. Germany has used similar trusts in the past to bring industrial assets under governmental control without actually making them state property.