Canadian car parts-maker Magna International Corp. has sent a revised offer with a contract to GM today hoping for a deal to finally go through for GM’s Opel division.

Magna spokesperson Daniel Witzani said today that all term issues were resolved between Magna and its Russian-based partner Sberbank, and said that the next step is for GM to make a decision.

Magna is offering GM about EUR $500 million for a 55-percent stake in Opel, with 35% retained to GM and with the remaining 10-percent to remain with Opel employees.

Read the full story

Update: Reports indicate Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. has made a non-binding bid of $992 million CND for Opel. Magna remains the favorite company to acquire Opel.

A deal to sell Opel is inching closer after GM European President Carl-Peter Forester said in an interview that high-level talks between GM and Canadian auto-part supplier Magna Corp. have reached “broad consent”.

He went on to say that he expects a deal to be reached by July 2009.

Read the full story

Auto parts manufacturer Magna International Inc. has announced it will be ceasing production at two if its plants in Ontario, Canada. The two plants are located in Aurora and Newmarket and both employee over 850 people. The closure comes as a direct result of the financial crisis, decreased product demand, and trouble in the auto industry. The good thing is that Magna will help employees by moving jobs to other operations and help employees find employment in related companies. People who will be laid off will be given a severance package. In Q3 ended Sept 30, the company announced sales of $5.5 billion (9% decline year over year) and reported a net operating loss of $112 million and a net loss of $215 million from the Ontario plants. Magna also stated reported complete vehicle assembly volumes in Q3 have declined by 40% to 25,231 units. The complete report can be found here in PDF format.