GM is now profitable in all regional units according to CEO Dan Akerson.
Akerson is praised for squashing rumours about GM planning to sell Opel. Moreover, GM’s decision to reverse its agreement to sell European Opel in 2009 was a right decision, said Akerson, speaking to Bloomberg.
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“It was a bad deal. We were giving Europe away,” said Akerson.
GM is expecting its European business to be profitable in 2011, excluding some costs. Not only has GM been cutting production capacity in Europe, it has also hired Detroit consulting firm Alix Partners to help its sales and marketing operation run more effectively.
Opel’s EBIT in the second quarter was around US$102m. The German business unit lost $390m in first quarter because of goodwill impairment costs amounting up to $395m.
At Frankfurt, GM Europe President Nick Reilly stated that the company’s aim was to be “profitable by just better than break-even before restructuring charges.” He continued, “In 2012, we won’t have those restructuring charges. They’re mostly done. We’ll get the full 12-month benefit of the restructuring that we’ve done.”
