The carmaker is to provide €1.9 billion in funding to Opel/Vauxhall, representing over half of the €3.7 billion that is needed to get the two marques back on their feet and three times more than it originally pledged.

As a result, the funding requested from European governments will reduce from €2.7 billion to under €2 billion.

'GM’s €1.9 billion commitment is the right course of action for Opel/Vauxhall and should clearly signal our determination to fix our business,' said GM Europe chief executive Nick O’Reilly. 'Our call for the additional funding was approved by GM’s senior management and supported by the GM Board of Directors. Meanwhile, we have shared this decision with the European Commission as well as the national and state governments involved. We hope that our strong commitment will be well received as a major milestone in our ongoing discussions about government guarantees to cover the remaining gap.'

'We greatly value the much increased support from GM, particularly given the high-priority demands on their liquidity, not least the restructuring of GM’s North American operations and coping with a continuously weak market in North America,' he added.

The GM contribution will be made in the form of both equity and loans.