While the attention last week was on new management at Ford, GM’s CEO, Rick Wagoner, has given a decidedly upbeat interview on GM’s turnaround to the Detroit Free Press.

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The article notes that GM will start next year with US$9bn less structural costs than it had at the beginning of 2006 thanks to a healthcare agreement with unions that alone will save the company US$1bn a year, and a 35,000 unit reduction in the workforce.


Wagoner said that on-going alliance talks with Renault-Nissan are proceeding as planned, but, while he said that there are a range of options for working together, he homed in on the idea that the two companies might develop further joint projects similar to the current European light commercial vehicle joint development and manufacturing.


“The criteria will be simply, from our side, does it create more value for our shareholders and for our company than other things we could do with those resources? And I believe it’s pretty clear Renault-Nissan will look at those the same way,” said Wagoner.


On Delphi an agreement is not imminent, but Wagoner said that all those involved in talks appear to be approaching the problem constructively, with a view to finding a solution. He would not be pushed on timing, and indeed, does not seem to have any control over that.

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With a 25% share of the US market, GM has seen its share decline, but Wagoner is convinced that this a good position to be in. While demand for trucks is in decline compared to cars, he says he is hoping that other OEMs will abandon the segment, so that GM trucks can continue to dominate it.


New large car crossover models including the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia have nevertheless been developed to replace demand for large cars where customers do not need expensive four-wheel drive functionality.