MUNICH -- General Motors Europe President Carl-Peter Forster expects that Opel will be sold to a consortium led by Magna International soon.

Magna has a "considerable lead" over other possible buyers, Forster told the Sunday newspaper Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung.

"I am quite confident after a top-level meeting of GM and Magna, where broad consent was reached," Forster said. "It's only about details."

He did not give any details on the date, but said "it would be great if it worked out by mid July."

Opel parent General Motors and Magna have set a target of July 15 for agreeing on the sale of a majority stake in Opel and its sister brand Vauxhall to the supplier and its Russian partner Sberbank.

Last week, reports said talks between GM and Magna had stumbled over disagreements about the use of GM's technology and engineering designs, rights to Chevrolet sales in Russia and GM's attempt to insert a buy-back clause into the deal.

Forster said issues over Opel patents have largely been sorted out with Magna, and that the two companies are now talking largely about how the company would operate in Russia.

"Who will be our local partners there? What happens to the GM factories there and the other GM brands in Russia," he said.

German press reports on Friday said GM has withdrawn its demand for a buy-back clause in any deal with Magna.

Magna could float Opel

Under a rescue plan brokered by the German government last month Magna would take a 20 percent stake in Opel, the Russian state bank Sberbank would take 35 percent and 35 percent would stay with GM. Opel's dealers want to take a 10 percent stake.

German magazine Focus reported, citing sources close to Magna, that the supplier planned to separate Opel from its other businesses once the takeover was completed and may even float Opel on the stock market.

German Deputy Economics Minister Jochen Homann on Friday expressed skepticism over Magna's concept for Opel and said that vested interests praising the supplier's offer as the best left the German government open to "extortion."

Homann, who reports to Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, stated no preference for any of the three current bidders.

Magna's consortium is the front-runner to take a majority stake in Opel, but GM has said it is taking to other potential buyers for Opel including Belgium-based holding company RHJ International and China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp.

Analysts believe the only way Magna's acquisition of Opel would collapse is if Magna were to bow out of the talks, forcing GM to then negotiate with another bidder such as BAIC.

Reuters contributed