The government, which virtually nationalised the carmakers when state-owned Korean Development Bank became its largest shareholder last year, has put the focus on Ford.

Ford and the automotive units of South Korea's big three family-run conglomerates - Hyundai Motor, unlisted Daewoo Motor and Samsung Motors - are the four bidders.

"Among the four bids, if condition remains the same, it would be desirable for Ford to acquire (Kia and Asia) considering the future normalisation of Kia and attracting foreign investment," Park Sang-bae, a KDB executive, told Reuters on Friday.

But creditors may cancel Monday's auction results if the winner demands too much hn the way of debt write-offr, said Park, who heads the KDB's task force on Kia.

The local media are having a field day speculating about the auction, which has been aborted twiceafter bidders sought write-offs in addition to what creditors were offering.

State-run Yonhap News Agency quoted an unidentified creditor on Friday as saying creditors would refuse to choose a bid that asked for debt cuts above 6.0 trillion won ($4.5 billion).

Yonhap said that meant Hyundai or Daewoo would win, as Samsung and Ford had asked for at least 7.0 trillion in write-offs.

But auction organisers said in a statement on Friday that it was not possible the information on debt write-off figures contained in the secret bids could have been leaked.

Some analysts say Ford still had the inside track because the government likes the idea of the US automaker bringing in fresh capital and technology, not to mention the positive message it would send about Korea's openness to foreign investment.

"Ford's investing in Korea will send two messages to foreigners. It could signal that the Korean market has fully opened up and that it is safe enough to invest here," said Yoon Sam-wi, an analyst at LGSecurities.

Ford, which along with Japanese affiliate Mazda owns 16.9 per cent of Kia, said on Friday it thinks it would be the best bett to help Kia and sister firm Asia Motors.

"If we can take over Kia and Asia Motors, we will best help them improve their global competitiveness in terms of technology transfer, foreign investment and business management," Ford spokesman John Spelich told Reuters from Dearborn, Michigan.

Ford Vice Chairman Wayne Booker said on Tuesday that Ford has bid for a 51 per cent stake in Kia and would finance the acquisition with its cash reserves of $22 billion.

The Cash reserves are precisely what makes Ford's bid so enticing to creditors, analysts said.

"Rather than the actual debt cuts, creditors are more concerned about finding a bidder who is actually capable of paying off the remaining debt after the write-offs," said an analyst at a local brokerage house who did not want to be identified.

The combined debt principal of Kia and Asia Motors totalled some 12 trillionwon, but analysts said the figure could rise further upon a more careful scrutiny of financial books.

"The cold hard reality is that total amount of debt held by Kia and Asia is closer to 16 trillion won," said the analyst who did not want to be identified.

Local bidders would be hard pressed to keep up with creditors' strict debt rescheduling plans which would likely disallow extending maturities on remaining loans, he said.

Analysts said a third auction failure was unlikely."If the bidding fails, the government would probably seek to sell Kia Ford would ask for even larger write-offs," said Chang of Citizen's Investment Trust.

Said one analyst at a foreign securities firm, "If I were one of the creditor banks, I would choose Ford to get at least some of my money back," he said.