General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner has said the auto maker’s North American turnaround strategy is “working just great” and that the company remains focused on cutting costs, investing in new products and improving its marketing strategies in the US.
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Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires at a press conference following an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the company’s CKD manufacturing plant in Colombia, and the announcement GM would invest $US21.5m there to raise the annual production capacity of the facility to 100,000 vehicles, from 68,000 currently, Wagoner said that GM is headed in the right direction in the US market. He cited the company’s improved sales in recent months and noted that the launch of new vehicles bodes well for continued strong performance of US sales.
Wagoner reportedly added that while GM is considering a possible alliance with Renault and Nissan Motor, the company’s main focus is on executing its turnaround strategy, which doesn’t hinge on the outcome of talks regarding a partnership.
Wagoner told Dow Jones that GM is looking at whether a partnership with Renault and Nissan would create value and synergies among the companies, and that the initial evaluation should be complete by mid-October. At that point, the sides will decide whether to extend the talks. Wagoner reportedly said it’s “preliminary to hypothesise how (the talks) will come out.”
While he said that GM would look at any alliance opportunity that might create value for shareholders, he added, “We have a plan that’s frankly working just great, better than people expected … We need to stay focused on that plan.”
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By GlobalDataOn a global level, according to the report, Wagoner said that GM “first and foremost” is aggressively investing in new products and technologies, and working to leverage its global scale as part of that effort.
According to Dow Jones, Wagoner also said that GM, while strengthening its core North American operations, needs to focus on “really growing where the growth is.” He cited Asian markets, and China in particular.
The Colombian market – though small relative to GM’s global business, which sold more than 9m vehicles last year – has been showing strong growth, the news agency noted.
GM is currently the sales leader there, and exports some of its output to Venezuela and Ecuador.
Wagoner told Dow Jones said that GM would consider expanding exports from the Colombian plant beyond the Andean region. He said he has discussed the matter with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.
GM’s Colombia plant builds a mix of GM Europe and GM-Daewoo-designed small and mid-size cars plus some US-designed vans and trucks, according to GM’s website.
