Italian carmaker Fiat is in talks about buying the European business of General Motors (GM) - which includes the UK's Vauxhall and Germany's Opel.
Fiat is already trying to take over some of Chrysler, the US carmaker that has applied for bankruptcy protection.
And it said it was considering merging its carmaking business with those of Chrysler and GM Europe.
Saab is also part of GM Europe, but may not be part of the discussions as it is being reorganised under Swedish law.
Vauxhall employs about 5,000 people in the UK while Opel employs nearly 26,000 in Germany.
In a statement, GM Europe confirmed that it was, "in talks with several possible investors" and added that, "we see good and realistic interest of some of these possible investors".
But it declined to name any of the possible investors and said it did not want to "speculate about the content of the talks between the German government and the Fiat management".
Fiat chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said Opel would be an "ideal partner" and that a takeover was an "extraordinary opportunity".
GM faces potential bankruptcy in the US and has until 1 June to restructure.
Opel has said it needs 3.3bn euros (£2.9bn; $4.3bn) to get through the economic crisis, but the German government has encouraged it to find an investor.
It has said it does not intend offering Opel a bail-out, but that it would offer investors state support.
Mr de Montezemolo told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday that a Fiat takeover of Opel would create "a very strong group".
Group chief executive Sergio Marchionne will meet the German economy and foreign ministers and the head of the Opel works council on Monday to assess the viability of a deal.
But there has been some doubt about whether Fiat could cope with such growth.
"They're going to be a global powerhouse, I guess. Who would have thought?" said Erich Merkle, an independent auto industry analyst in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"It'll make them a very large automaker, but we've seen that large isn't necessarily indicative of success."
Five years ago, GM paid $2bn to avoid having to take up an option to buy Fiat's carmaking business.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Marchionne said that buying Opel would be a "marriage made in heaven".
However Canadian car parts maker Magna International has also put forward what the German government has called a "rough concept for a commitment with Opel".
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said that any investor would have to present a plan that kept Opel plants open in order to secure government support.
Last week General Motors (GM) said it was to cut 21,000 US jobs in 2009 and phase out its Pontiac brand, as it aims to meet the deadline set by the US government to overhaul its business and show that it is viable.
It must complete its restructuring by then to gain the government loans it needs to avoid bankruptcy protection.
Like US rivals Ford and Chrysler, GM has seen sales fall sharply in its core home market in recent years, a decline that has intensified as the recession has continued.
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