General Motors’ European unit said its second-quarter sales fell 20 per cent – faster than the overall market – even as Germany’s scrapping incentives boosted Opel’s sales to an eight-year high.

GM Europe, a stake of which its bankrupt US parent is selling to outside investors to raise emergency financing from Germany and other European countries, sold 471,823 vehicles in the second quarter, and claimed a market share of 9.2 per cent.