General Motors Europe president Nick Reilly has gone as far as he dare in shrugging off speculation that Vauxhall/Opel is up for sale.

Speaking to AM sister title Fleet News, Reilly pointed to General Motors’s long-standing policy of not commenting on speculation, adding that it had a responsibility to its shareholders and to the Stock Exchange not to deviate from that policy.

But he said: “GM is pleased with the progress of Vauxhall and Opel – it’s ahead of plan and made money in the first quarter of this year when it hadn’t expected to*. Vauxhall/Opel is an important resource from an engineering point of view as well as the sales operation. We will continue to improve.”