A traffic sign shows the way to the Opel plant in Ruesselsheim July 14, 2009.

Germany dismissed a report Thursday that RHJ International had overtaken Magna as the front-runner to take over carmaker Opel, saying the race remained wide open.

“The report is wrong,” Jochen Homann, head of the government’s Opel Task Force, told Reuters. “A decision has not been taken in favor of one or the other bidder.”

On Wednesday, a government spokesman said Germany still thought a deal with Canadian auto parts maker Magna provided a “good foundation” for Opel’s future, but that it was ready to consider other buyers if they emerged.

In addition to RHJ International, China’s Beijing Automotive has also made a bid for Opel, a European unit of US carmaker General Motors.

Homann added that the 1.5 billion euros (US$2.1 billion) in bridge financing the German government is supplying to Opel was not linked to one bidder but that future government guarantees would have to be negotiated.

Source: Reuters