General Motors has filed for bankruptcy just days after sealing a deal to sell off its Vauxhall/Opel operations.

The American government plans to take a 60% ownership stake in the Detroit company.

President Barack Obama plans to tell the nation that the government will provide an additional £19 billion in aid to help GM emerge from bankruptcy and would stress the government’s commitment to staying out of the carmaker’s business decisions, an official said.

Incredibly, GM has now lost $88 billion since 2005. The credit crunch left it unable to borrow more cash from the private sector, forcing it to turn to the US Government for help.

A second person familiar with the details said the Canadian government would take a 12.5% stake in GM and a United Auto Workers trust for health care expenses would get 17.5%.

Bondholders would receive a 10% stake with the possibility of increasing their share to 25%.

GM, the century-old manufacturer of Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac cars and trucks and one of America’s largest employers, is expected to file for bankruptcy protection at 8am (1pm BST).

The carmaker worked feverishly in recent days to win concessions from stakeholder groups to ensure a speedy bankruptcy. It would be the largest industrial bankruptcy in US history and the fourth-largest overall.

In addition, a GM bankruptcy would be unprecedented as the government would pump billions more into the company after providing £12.5 billion since the end of the Bush administration.

A majority of GM’s unsecured bondholders have accepted a deal viewed as crucial to reorganisation, and Germany agreed to lend £1.25 billion to GM’s German unit Opel, as part of its acquisition by a Canadian car parts supplier.

GM plans to name turnaround executive Al Koch to serve as its chief restructuring officer to help the company through bankruptcy protection, said a person familiar with the matter.

Mr Koch, a managing director with AlixPartners, is a veteran turnaround specialist who helped Kmart. through its bankruptcy protection reorganisation. He will lead the separation of the carmaker’s assets into a ‘‘New GM’’ and the remaining parts of the company that will form ‘‘Old GM’’.

He will then lead the management team that winds down the ‘‘Old GM’’ company once the company emerges from bankruptcy.

“Today marks a defining moment in the reinvention of GM as a leaner, more customer-focused, and more cost-competitive company that, above all, can quickly generate winning bottom line results,” said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO. “The economic crisis has caused enormous disruption in the auto industry, but with it has come the opportunity for us to reinvent our business. We are going to do it once and do it right. "The court-supervised process we are pursuing provides us with powerful tools to accelerate and complete our reinvention, as well as strong safeguards for our customers and our business. We are focused on the job at hand, for the benefit of our customers, employees, dealers, suppliers, retirees, taxpayers, investors and other stakeholders."

None of GM’s operations outside of the U.S. are included in the U.S. court filings or court-supervised process, and these filings have no direct legal impact on GM’s plans and operations outside the U.S. GM confirmed that all business operations are continuing without interruption in its Europe; Latin America, Africa and the Middle East; and Asia Pacific regions.

“Worldwide, GM dealers are open for business, offering competitive financing options on our award-winning vehicles, continuing to honor our industry-leading warranty coverage, and providing outstanding service,” said Henderson. “Furthermore, the U.S. Treasury and the Canadian governments have issued a strong vote of confidence by backing GM’s vehicle warranties.”

The New GM will focus on four core brands in the US - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC - with fewer nameplates and a more competitive level of marketing support per brand.

Ominously for workers the company also pledged to: "Effectively close the competitive gap in active worker labor costs compared with transplant auto manufacturers."

That means cutting costs and, possibly, salaries to match the efficiency of plants run by the likes of Toyota.

It plans to achieve this by further reducing 2009 salaried employment in North America from its year-end total of 35,100 to approximately 27,200, and continuing to improve its balance sheet by reducing retiree benefits for salaried retirees and non-UAW hourly retirees.