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Opel frontunner Magna's MG.A-T consortium partner Sberbank said the race to acquire the carmaker was all but over, though Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) may still lodge a bid in the coming days.

After visiting Opel's data room in Ruesselsheim last week, Daimler's Chinese partner is working out details of an offer to be submitted before a July 15 deadline with its advisers Deutsche Bank and PriceWaterhouse Coopers, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

General Motors has heightened the pressure on Magna, considered to be a shoo-in for the Opel deal, by talking up rival offers from BAIC and Belgian investment firm RHJ International in the run-up to July 15, when Magna wants to be able to sign a deal.

BAIC told Reuters it had no knowledge of the matter.

In Moscow, Sberbank Chief Executive German Gref told reporters on Thursday that BAIC, RHJ and a third rival, Fiat, were all effectively out of the race.

“I do not see any serious competition. The choice has been made and the question now is of how to structure the deal,” he said.

Speaking in Germany's Bild newspaper on Thursday, Klaus Franz, head of the Opel works council, was quoted as saying GM was playing a high-stakes game in a bid to improve the terms of the sale, adding that he knew of no new offer.

That followed comments from Mr. Franz in the Wall Street Journal report, in which he expressed strong reservations about any sale to Beijing Automotive.

“They only want technology and have no experience in global auto production,” the paper reported Franz as saying.