The US carmaker sold almost 2.2 million vehicles in the region last year - up 179,000 units or 8.9 percent year-on-year - and is now set to expand its production and distribution capacity within Europe.

GM plans to build 700,000 Chevrolet cars a year in Europe by 2010 and break the 1 million a year sales barrier by 2012.

Last year GM took a 9.5 percent share of the European new car market – the carmaker's highest since 1999.

Opel/Vauxhall sales were up 4.3 per cent, while Chevrolet sales were boosted by 33.6 per cent and Cadillac sales rose 30.9 per cent.

Carl-Peter Forster, GM Europe President, said: “Our multi-brand strategy is beginning to make an impact, as is an aggressive strategy for growth in Eastern and Central Europe. Importantly, these results show how quickly GM has embraced growth in the new markets of Europe.”

The UK, Russia, Italy, Ukraine and Greece were the main contributors to GM's growth in 2007.