General Motors is to sell Opel, its lossmaking European subsidiary, to Canada’s Magna International and Russia’s Sberbank, ending months of uncertainty over the carmaker’s fate that had threatened to overshadow this month’s German elections.

Interactive timeline: Revamping GM

See the attempts General Motors has made over the past decade to reinvent itself – and track the key events since the turn of the year

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, whose government threw its weight behind Magna’s bid, welcomed GM’s decision on Thursday, saying the result showed the government’s “patience, clarity and decisiveness” had paid off.