June 26 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. may sign non- binding agreements with Belgian and Chinese bidders for its Opel unit as a fallback to a proposed deal with Magna International Inc., according to people familiar with the talks.

Negotiations with buyout firm RHJ International SA and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. are under way and may lead to the signing of non-binding memoranda of understanding, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Talks between GM and Magna, which was chosen by Germany as the preferred bidder for Opel, are being slowed by disagreements over the use of GM’s technology and engineering designs, people familiar with the talks have said. The dispute has renewed interest in bids from Beijing Automotive and RHJ, the people said. Magna’s offer is backed by Russian lender OAO Sberbank.

Arnaud Denis, a spokesman of RHJ, and Daniel Witzani, a spokesman for Magna, declined to comment. A Beijing Automotive official couldn’t be reached for comment outside office hours.

“We’re in very active negotiations with several potential partners including Magna, Beijing Auto and Ripplewood,” Chris Preuss, a GM Europe spokesman, said yesterday. “I wouldn’t comment at this point on the status of the talks or the specific details of the negotiations other than to say we have very strong interest in Opel from all the parties involved.”

Talks are sufficiently advanced with all three suitors that if a transaction with Aurora, Ontario-based Magna falls through, an agreement is still possible before German national elections in September, the original target for the completion of a deal with Magna, one of the people said. Magna got its deal May 29.

Engineering Designs

GM is selling a majority of Opel as part of a global reorganization that includes the Obama-administration-backed bankruptcy of its U.S. operations, closing or idling 15 U.S. manufacturing facilities and cutting thousands of salaried and union jobs to return to profit. The automaker, based in Detroit, lost about $88 billion since 2004, its last profitable year.

GM is concerned that Magna’s plans for significant changes to the engineering designs of Opel models would eliminate the cost-saving benefits of sharing parts with other GM brands, the people said. Magna is asking for access to future technology such as fuel cells, hybrids and future GM models that go beyond what the company is offering in the deal, the people said.

Russian Partners

In addition, GM is worried that Magna’s Russian partners are seeking to use Opel designs to help improve the Russian auto industry, the people said.

Sberbank’s plan to sell its 35 percent holding in Opel is causing GM concern because the U.S. automaker wants to influence the selection of a potential buyer, a person familiar with the talks said earlier this week. The Moscow-based bank said on June 4 it would sell its Opel stake after reorganizing the division and its Russian assets.

Magna also is seeking “extreme” concessions from workers at Opel less than a month after making pledges that won Germany’s backing for acquiring the unit, a union official said today.

“Magna is now pushing extreme demands,” Armin Schild, a member of Opel’s supervisory board and an official of Germany’s IG Metall labor union, said today by telephone. “I have no illusions that these will cost workers blood, sweat and tears.”

Schild, speaking after an eight-hour board meeting at Opel’s Ruesselsheim, Germany-based headquarters, likened the Canadian car-parts maker’s approach to a “power saw.” He declined to specify the concessions sought. Magna agreed not to close Opel factories in Germany when it won the nod May 30.

Adjusting Plans

Beijing Automotive is developing a more detailed proposal and RHJ may modify some of the initial job-cut plans to slow down the timing, one of the people said. All bidders are proposing to eliminate about 10,000 to 11,000 jobs, the person said. The differences are in timing of the cuts and how many of them would be made in Germany, the person said.

The Chinese and Belgian suitors also rely less on government loans, the people said. Beijing Automotive representatives met with GM managers this week at GM Europe’s office in Zurich and in Ruesselsheim, Germany, where Opel is based, people familiar with the matter said.

Beijing Automotive, which has ventures to make vehicles in China for Hyundai Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC’s Jeep brand, would require no government loans or guarantees for its purchase, one of the people said. Conversely, Magna’s plan calls for 4.5 billion euros in loan guarantees from European governments.

Magna Gains

Magna fell 96 cents, or 2 percent, to $46.48 at 4:10 p.m. in trading in Toronto. The shares have gained 26 percent this year.

Fiat SpA, Italy’s largest carmaker, had made an offer for Opel. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters in Rome on June 11, after a meeting with Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, that Fiat’s offer for Opel is “still on the table.”

German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said June 23 that the government remains open to other bidders, though “priority” should be given to Magna. Magna has agreed not to close Opel’s factories in Germany in return for 1.5 billion euros in short-term state loans.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net; Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 26, 2009 16:30 EDT