Its factory in Zaragoza, northern Spain, will be clad in 183,000 square metres of solar panels in a 50 million euro (78.5 million dollar) project to provide a quarter of the factory's power at peak times, the paper said.

The carmaker is working with Veolia Environnement of France and Clairvoyant Energy of the US on the project, which is part of a commitment to greater sustainability.

GM is due to install solar panels on its factory in Saint Petersburg next and is looking at whether to roll out the scheme to its other 19 plants across Europe.