The move to keep Opel underlines the growing confidence filtering through the car industry. Coming on the back of rising sales last month in the US and surprisingly good results from Ford, it has led to the first bout of positive thinking about the sector for more than a year. “There is a bit of optimism in the air,” says Philippe Houchois, analyst at UBS.

But for many industry observers the factor’s behind present optimism supply the reasons for future pessimism. “The bigger the uptick in sales you see the more scared you should be heading into next year,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, analyst at Credit Suisse.