WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House on Wednesday said it had nothing to do with a decision by General Motors to scrap plans to sell its unit Opel to a Canadian-Russian consortium.

The US government owns a 60 percent stake in the largest American automaker as part of a reorganization plan established when GM filed for bankruptcy protection on June 1.

"Business decisions by GM are made by the corporate leadership at GM and not by anybody at the White House," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

The Obama administration has repeatedly insisted it would not participate in the company's day-to-day operations.

The bankruptcy reorganization also gave the governments of Canada and Ontario, where several GM factories are located, a 12 percent stake in what was the world's largest automaker until it was overtaken by Japan's Toyota in 2008.

The automaker, struggling under the restructuring, had agreed to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel/Vauxhall to a consortium headed by Canada-based auto parts maker Magna and its Russian banking partner Sberbank.

But on Tuesday, GM said its board "has decided to retain Opel and will initiate a restructuring of its European operations in earnest."

GM explained the abrupt U-turn by underscoring "an improving business environment for GM over the past few months, and the importance of Opel/Vauxhall to GM's global strategy."