Britain and Spain are baulking at contributing to a 4.5 billion-euro ($7.3 billion) rescue of General Motors Co.'s Opel unit without firm commitments to save jobs as Germany seeks broad-based funding for a sale.

There is a ``big distance'' to bridge before Spain will contribute to Opel's financing, Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said today in Berlin after meeting with Siegfried Wolf, co-chief executive officer of Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc., Opel's prospective buyer.

Spain wants to ensure that Opel's largest plant in Figueruelas, which employs 7,000 people, doesn't lose out in a deal to keep four German sites open. Britain is seeking commitments to maintain the Vauxhall brand with its 5,100 workers and two factories, and Business Secretary Mandelson says he won't sign off on Magna's offer unless concerns about the viability of the takeover proposal are addressed.

``If there are not to be negative consequences for Vauxhall the plan needs to be redressed in certain ways,'' Mandelson said during a trip to South Korea, citing ``shortcomings'' detailed by PricewaterhouseCoopers in a report ordered by Germany. An impact plan must be agreed before the start of talks on how much Britain will contribute, he said.

Under the deal, Aurora, Ontario-based Magna and Moscow- based Sberbank will each acquire 27.5 per cent of Opel. GM will retain a 35 per cent stake, while employees will receive 10 per cent in exchange for concessions.

The takeover plan calls for 1.2 billion euros of cost cuts and Opel, which is based in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt, may have to eliminate 10,900 positions, including 4,100 in Germany, where the unit employs about half its workforce of 50,000.

German funding

Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking the approval of Britain and Spain for a deal she has backed since May. Germany has extended a 1.5 billion-euro emergency loan and offered to underwrite a further 3 billion euros in state aid called for under Magna's deal if other countries don't participate.

Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said today in an interview that Germany is in regular contact with Britain and Spain. Negotiations with European partners are ``carried by constructive sentiment,'' he said, adding that Magna is helping the process with its readiness to make adjustments.

Mandelson, Magna and Britain's Unite trade union held further talks today without reaching an agreement acceptable either to the minister or the labor group, the U.K. government said in a statement.

``Magna has to transmit to us that they have a long-term plan to make us optimistic,'' said Spain's Sebastian, who will meet zu Guttenberg later today. ``When we are convinced, we are willing to talk about financial supports.''

Corsa work

Magna may transfer some output of its three-door Corsa subcompacts to Opel's plant in Eisenach, Germany, from Figueruelas. Earlier this week, the company, which plans to buy a majority of Opel together with Russian partner OAO Sberbank, scaled back plans for job cuts at the Spanish plant to 1,350, or 18 per cent of the workforce, from 1,672.

Sebastian, who boycotted a multilateral meeting to discuss the Opel deal in Berlin today, wants Magna to commit to maintain two production lines at the site near Zaragoza, which currently assembles Corsas and Combo vans. The country also won't accept a ``substantial shift'' in production to less efficient Opel plants, he said in a press conference.

Sebastian will host a meeting with Magna management, union officials and regional authorities on Oct. 13 in Madrid. He said he expects Magna to demonstrate its commitment to the plant, which produced 29 per cent of Opel's cars in 2008.

`Room for everybody'

``I'm completely convinced that there's room for everybody, because it's a European project,'' he said, adding that ``short-term sacrifices'' could be accepted if the future looked promising.

Georg Nuesslein, deputy chairman of the German parliament's economics committee, predicts that other governments will eventually come to terms with the Magna plan.

``If the deal were to collapse the alternative would be huge political damage,'' he said by phone ``Nobody wants that.''

Ulrich Wilhelm, a spokesman for Merkel, also said today that the government is confident the deal can be wrapped up.

``An agreement won't founder,'' Wilhelm said. ``We're in good talks with our European partners and are working towards a joint solution.''

Edda Graf, a spokeswoman at Magna's European headquarters in Oberwaltersdorf, Austria, declined to comment, as did Opel spokesman Joerg Schrott. Beatrix Brodkorb, a spokeswoman for the German Economy Ministry which has been overseeing talks with Opel suitors and EU governments, also refused to comment.

Bloomberg News