The pursuit of German carmaker Opel has narrowed to a three-way race between Italy's Fiat, Canadian-Austrian car parts group Magna and investment firm RHJ International.
In North America, bankrupt US auto parts maker Chrysler won court approval for financing and other requests to help move it quickly through a sale to a group led by Fiat and also named a chairman for the merged company.
Meanwhile, GM Canada planned to tell dealerships on Wednesday which of the country's roughly 700 dealers likely will close under a plan to slash the network by about 42 per cent.
The German government had set a Wednesday deadline for bids on the unit of struggling US automaker General Motors, which is hurtling toward a June 1st US government deadline to complete restructuring talks with stakeholders.
Fiat submitted an offer for GM's Opel and British brand Vauxhall, while a financial source told Reuters that RHJ had put in a bid and that Magna also was expected to.
A spokesman for GM Europe confirmed the automaker had received three bids on the Opel unit. GM has said a bankruptcy filing is probable and industry analysts and experts believe it could come within weeks.
Both GM and Germany, where Opel has four plants that employ some 25,000 staff, are in a race against time to finalise a sale of the group based in Ruesselsheim, western Germany.
GM will decide which investor gets Opel, but the German government will also play a big role because it would likely provide billions of euros in financing to help any buyer.
How far Berlin should go to prop up Opel, which traces its roots back to the 19th century, has become a topic of fierce debate ahead of a federal election in September.