US auto giant General Motors (GM.UL) was expected later Thursday to ink a final deal to cede control of its loss-making European unit Opel/Vauxhall after 80 years in the driving seat.

The deal foresees GM, which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year and is now majority owned by the United States government, selling 55 percent in Opel to Canadian parts maker Magna International and Russian state-owned lender Sberbank.

Under a preliminary agreement announced on September 10, employees will own 10 percent in "New Opel" and GM will retain 35 percent.

With Opel struggling in a depressed European market with too many cars being made for too few customers, Magna is expected to cut around 10,500 jobs in an effort to compete with giants like Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen.

The deal was championed by Germany, home to half of Opel's 50,000 employees, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's offering 4.5 billion euros (6.7 billion dollars) in state aid.

Merkel, elected for a second term on September 27, wants other European countries where Opel has factories like Britain, Spain, Belgium and Poland to provide their own taxpayers' money too.

But instead, the deal has been met with grumbling, with these countries unwilling to stump up cash for a deal that they see as only guaranteeing German jobs and keeping German plants up and running.

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is scrutinising the transaction to determine if Germany's state aid is contingent on German plants not being closed, which would make it illegal.

The Canadian firm has been conducting a charm offensive in recent weeks in an attempt to get trade unions in Britain and Spain on its side.