Fiat CEO says current Opel bid is best it can do

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - Fiat's existing bid for Opel, the European arm of General Motors Corp GMGMQ.PK, is its best offer, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said, as rival Magna (MGa.TO) stayed on track to close a deal with the German carmaker.

"I don't believe we could improve Fiat's offer. It's the most rational one we can put forward from an industrial viewpoint," Marchionne said on Friday on the sidelines of an event.

Fiat bid for Opel last month but did not continue into a second round of talks.

Magna and General Motors hope to close the sale of a majority stake in Opel by the middle of September, ahead of Germany's elections, an Opel supervisory board member told Reuters on Friday.

Marchionne said he had heard talks with Magna were "not going very well," and added. "We have confirmed our interest."

Marchionne said Fiat, which has taken a 20 percent stake in U.S. car maker Chrysler CBS.UL, was close to a deal on a venture with China's Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group -- something which has been brewing for over a year.

"We'll see in the next few days. We are finalizing some steps. However, we are there," Marchionne said.

U.S. RECOVERY FIRST?

Fiat had "good results" on both its home market of Italy and in Europe during June, Marchionne said. The company's sales were down 3.5 percent in Italy in May giving it a market share of 34.38 percent, slightly up on a year ago.