GM Posts $3.3B Losses In First Quarter

Automaker Blames Sagging SUV Sales And Strike By Major Supplier For Dismal Results

(AP)  General Motors Corp. struggled to a $3.3 billion first-quarter loss, due in part to a weak U.S. market, a strike at a major supplier and plummeting sales of sport utility vehicles and pickups.

The loss reported Wednesday for the January-March period, which amounted to $5.74 per share, also reflected one-time charges. It was much larger than the company's loss of $42 million, or 7 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

GM said a two-month strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. has cost it $800 million and 100,000 vehicles. The strike has affected 30 GM plants.

GM's loss included a $1.45 billion charge to reflect a change in the value of GM's interest in GMAC Financial Services and $731 million to increase GM's liability in Delphi Corp.'s ongoing bankruptcy.

Excluding the one-time items, GM lost $350 million, or 62 cents per share, beating Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected a loss of $1.60 per share.

GM's total revenue for the quarter was $42.7 billion, down from $43.4 billion a year ago. GM said revenues were up 20 percent outside North America thanks to strong growth in China, Russia, Brazil and India, but were impacted by the slowdown in North America and losses at GMAC.

GM lost $276 million in the first quarter due to its minority stake in GMAC.

"We continue to leverage our global product portfolio to take advantage of tremendous growth in key emerging markets, while at the same time taking the appropriate actions to deal with the challenging economic conditions in the U.S.," GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said in a statement.

[pollroller1]

What a shame. GM builds great cars. I have a five year old GM vehicle that has been pretty much trouble free. Gas milage isn''t the best. I average a little over 15 MPG in town driving. The wife''s Honda does better at around 20 MPG in town driving. Now that we are retired we don''t drive much. My five year old GM car only has 30,000 miles on it. The wife''s three year old Honda has around 12,000 miles.

[quetzal0666]

American Cars?
Why buy one,
Ive had nothing but problems with every GM
ive ever had, from the carpet tearing to the door handles coming off,
Ive not had that problem since switching to NISSAN....
My Murano rocks..

[mbcsmith]

Unions have killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

[haoli25]

GM had better get that bail out request in before Bush leaves office.

[darnedsocks]

WHEN IS GM AND ALL OF THE OTHER MAJOR AUTO MANUFACTURERS AND AIRLINES, AND TRANSPORTATION CORPS GOING TO BAND TOGETHER AND GET ON CONGRESS''S A$$ ABOUT THE GAS PRICES?!!!!!!!!!

[darnedsocks]

WHY ARE OUR MAJOR CORPORATIONS PUTTING UP WITH HIGH GAS PRICES FROM CONGRESS? THEY NEED TO START PUTTING THE PEDAL TO THE METAL ON PRESSURING CONGRESS TO GET THEIR A$$ IN GEAR AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

[pollroller1]

Unions have killed the goose that laid the golden egg.Posted by mbcsmith at 09:16 AM : Apr 30, 2008
I have to agree with you. At one time the unions were a great thing. My grandfather helped organize one of the unions here in the south. I remember him having secret meetings at his house.
The unions helped stop companies from using child labor, and did a lot of great things for the average working guy.

[random_radar]

"What a shame. GM builds great cars."

ROFL

[noloyalisti]

Good for the war-profiteering GOP supporting traitors!! How many times did we tell them to quit building Hummers and other large SUVs. Why did they kill the electric car? Greedy good for nothing fascists in bed with Congress. The only people who get screwed are the dummies who still work for them. The CEOs are laughing all the way to the bank.

[pollroller1]

Well a lot of what y''all say makes sense. BUT Toyota and Honda are not union shops.
Maybe that wouldn''t matter, I don''t know for sure.
GM does build some gas hogs. They also build some cars that get good fuel milage. As far as quality goes, I really don''t have any problem with my GM car. Would I buy another one? Yes I would. Comparing My car to my wife''s Honda, They seem pretty equal as far a quality goes.

[incog-nito]

Not to worry. If GM gets in trouble, the American taxpayer will bail it out. Isn''t the "free market" a great thing or what?

[sparks224]

The company that makes a car that gets 50mpg is doing very well (Toyota).

The company that chose to not make a 50mpg car is doing badly (GM).

I''m sure there is no connection and GM is just a helpless victim on circumstance.

[gce65]

"The heartbeat of America" is in need of a pacemaker.

[hsinco-2009]

WHEN IS GM AND ALL OF THE OTHER MAJOR AUTO MANUFACTURERS AND AIRLINES, AND TRANSPORTATION CORPS GOING TO BAND TOGETHER AND GET ON CONGRESS''''S A$$ ABOUT THE GAS PRICES?!!!!!!!!!

Posted by darnedsocks at 09:52 AM : Apr 30, 2008

When they stop ki$$ing Bu$h''$ A$s. Duh!!

[cyberus-2009]

And I''ll bet with the loses incurred, jobs lost .. none of the bigwigs have gone without a single cost of living raise

[nonayabiness]

I went to a car show recently. GM had the most hybrids out there. If the economy in general were''nt nearly in the tank, I would predict a very good year for GM. There are always buyers, even in poor economic conditions. More of the buyers out there will go to GM. Toyota had no large hybrids on display.

[nonayabiness]

And I''''ll bet with the loses incurred, jobs lost .. none of the bigwigs have gone without a single cost of living raise


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by cyberus at 01:26 AM : May 01, 2008

-Of course. Perhaps its time to send CEO jobs to India or China. They are much too expensive to keep here, right?

[veteran72]

Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 documentary film that explores the birth, limited commercialization, and subsequent death of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the 1990s. The film explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, the US government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles, and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of this technology.

Thanks, Big Oil* !!!


*(Chenyburton)

[dredre2k]

GM''s cars are actually getting better. And, they are now actively working to bring hybrids to the market. Sadly, GM''s recovery is coming after 10 years after producing boring, uninteresting boxes. HOWEVER, hey have really revamped their chevy and pontiac lines. Now if they can only come out with the Chevy Volt...

[helloall34]

This flagship of America''s overconfidence and greed in the world market has been sinking for a long time. Hopefully it can be saved, but the ship needs to be totally remodeled. Unfortunately, I''m not sure it''s possible.