UPDATE: Germany: US Opel Talks Ongoing, Outlined Trusteeship

Talks between the German government and the U.S. over the future of General Motors Corp. (GM) German unit Adam Opel AG including a possible trusteeship will continue and will possibly be stepped up in coming days, German government spokesman Thomas Steg said Friday.

"We are in a regular and very lively exchange with the U.S. side," Steg said. "There are intensive negotiations and these negotiations will be continued and possibly intensified even more."

He said Germany has told the U.S. side it is considering taking Opel into a state-supported trusteeship to keep it operating should GM enter bankruptcy before Opel can be sold. This plan isn't alien to the U.S. side, he said.

His comments follow a newspaper report saying the U.S. government has rejected the German government's plan for a trusteeship for Opel.

Steg declined to comment on this.

German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has said the government would consider the trusteeship step, which could include bridge financing, only if the two remaining bidders for Opel submit detailed feasible bids by May 20.

The trusteeship is aimed at allowing Opel to continue operations and to give time to continue negotiations with possible investors while at the same time not putting the company or jobs at risks during this period, Steg said.

Italian auto maker Fiat SpA (F.MI) and a consortium including Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. (MGA) remain the two prominent interested parties.

A person familiar with the situation has reportedly said that RHJ International (RHJI.BT), a European buyout firm with holdings in the auto-parts sector, has emerged as a suitor for General Motors Corp.'s (GM) European operations.

-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]