Fiat 'has edge' in talks for Opel

Fiat SpA, the Italian carmaker seeking to take over General Motors Corp's Opel unit, may have an advantage over rival bidder Magna International Inc. by guaranteeing German jobs and the brand's future.

A week after GM started due-diligence talks with suitors, Fiat yesterday submitted its plan to the German government, promising to keep the Opel brand and at least three of the division's four factories in the country. The proposal is "more detailed than anything we've seen from Magna so far", said Felix Probst, a spokesman for Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

"Fiat definitely has the edge," said Juergen Reinholz, economy minister in the German state of Thuringia who is involved in the talks. About 1,900 of Opel's 25,000 German employees work in a factory in Eisenach that assembles Corsa cars. "They submitted their offer faster. Magna has some homework to do to erase that lead."