A future German government may be willing to finance a restructuring of Opel under the ownership of General Motors if the sale of GM's German arm to Magna, the Canadian supplier, falls through, the Financial Times has learnt.

Berlin, which has agreed to provide €4.5bn ($6.4bn) to fund Opel/Vauxhall after a sale to Magna, has all but given up on the deal happening before Germany's general election in four weeks. “Something could still happen before the election,” a German official said yesterday, speaking on condition of anonymity, “but frankly, it would be a big surprise if it did.”

Officially, Berlin is sticking to the line that it wants Opel sold as a precondition for providing financial support. But should GM block a deal, the official said, a new government next month might have little choice but to enter talks with the US carmaker on sponsoring Opel's restructuring within GM.