German Deputy Economics Minister Jochen Homann said on Tuesday that German officials and General Motors had made significant progress in talks over the sale of the U.S. carmaker's Opel unit.

Canadian auto parts group Magna and Belgium-based financial investor RHJ are locked in a takeover battle for Opel, control of which GM intends to relinquish in return for state support.

Homann said GM, Magna and RHJ had indicated they could come to a decision by the end of the week, but GM had not yet shown any preference for either of the bidders.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller, Writing by Sarah Marsh, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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