GM – back from the walking dead?
General Motors Co. appears poised for its first year-on-year monthly sales gain since January 2008. Automakers report on sales figures on Tuesday. GM came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 1 June 2009 and it sales in October 2008 were 45% lower than October 2007. The company expects to see market share gains, into the 20%+ range, despite ceasing production of four brands and refocusing the company on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. GM, now 60% owned by American taxpayers, had to shed Saturn, Pontiac, Saab and Hummer as a condition of receiving federal aid. Its latest entry in the small crossover-vehicle market, the Chevrolet Equinox, has sold so well GM has only a 10-day supply in its inventory. The company’s predictions were that October light-vehicle sales were such that annual sales should reach 10.5 million, dramatically up from the annualised September figure of 9.2 million. Next week, GM will provide more information about how it spent federal loans on Delphi, its former parts division. Delphi also recently emerged from bankruptcy protection. Read more: BusinessWeek, The New York Times
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