The saga of who will ultimately control General Motors ’ Opel/ Vauxhall business resembles a thriller with multiple plot twists, but where the ending never really seems in doubt. Since Canada’s Magna and Russia’s Sberbank beat Fiat as preferred bidders in May, some inexorable force seems to have propelled them towards the prize – in spite of the presence of better bids, and real competition concerns.

Pressure from Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, has extracted a pledge from the German government that the €4.5bn state aid it is offering to Magna was, or is, also available to other bidders. But this is a classic case of shutting the stable door when the horse is halfway across the field. Berlin clearly skewed the original bidding process in favour of its preferred candidate – the one promising the fewest German job losses – with several officials stating aid was not available to rivals such as Belgium’s RHJ International. It is too late now to reopen the auction, and RHJ has signalled it is no longer interested. The option of GM keeping control of the business is too complex and difficult to finance.