General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner has handed over day-to-day control of the automaker’s money-losing North American operations to Troy Clarke.

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According to Dow Jones, Clarke, who began his GM career at Pontiac in 1973, has led GM Asia Pacific, the company’s most profitable unit in the first quarter, since 2004.


Detroit-based GM (GM) also said David “Nick” Reilly, a GM vice president and president and CEO of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology in South Korea [and a former chairman of Vauxhall here in the UK], will replace Clarke as president of GM Asia Pacific.


“While much work remains to be done, we have reached several significant milestones in our turnaround plan over the past year,” Wagoner said, according to the report. “This is the right time to turn the region’s day-to-day operations over to Troy, who has the experience and skills to help lead the GMNA team as it continues this unprecedented restructuring.”


Dow Jones noted that Wagoner took over the reins in April 2005 saying at the time it was an attempt to “shorten the lines of communication and decision-making”.

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But the North American unit’s still losing money, the news agency said – in the first quarter, GM North America posted a $503m loss, while Asia Pacific logged a profit of $453m.


In 2005, GMNA accounted for $8.2bn of the automaker’s $10.6bn loss, amid soaring fixed costs and waning sales of its most-profitable vehicles, Dow Jones added.


“It’s almost as if GM is bringing in someone from outside the company,” Burnham Securities analyst David Healy told Dow Jones, adding: “GM is an entirely different company abroad than it is in North America.”