German union leaders met their government representatives earlier this week, and will hold talks with their Italian union counterparts who are in Germany today.

US parent group General Motors is desperate to offload its European division as it reorganises ahead of a June 1 deadline set by President Barack Obama’s government.

Should it fail, it risks having to apply for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and GM chief executive Fritz Henderson warned, if that was the cas,e some of its overseas operations might follow it into bankruptcy.

About seven bidders are believed to be circling GM Europe, and Mr Henderson said: "We're speaking with multiple bidders, with the objective to at least have some understanding of what an agreement would look like. And our target is do it slightly before the end of this month."

The three main engineering unions in Italy are worried a merger could cost thousands of jobs by closing the main Alfa Romeo plant, near Naples, and Termini Imerese, in Sicily, where Lancia Ypsilons are built.

Mr Fetherstone said he was in constant contact with German trade unions and would receive an update after today’s meeting.

But, if GM in America is forced into bankruptcy protection, he believes the UK and European plants would continue to trade normally: "We have had discussions about what may or may not happen. We expect to continue trading – but there is still so much uncertainty." Vauxhall declined to comment.