.. but not in North America

[ozpont]

abit of good new just released.. .. Not so good for Ford as it continues to bleed massively.....and stuggles to hold # 3 in the US hit parade...

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GM reports $62-million global profit[

UPDATED AT 7.40 A.M/ 9.40pm Sydney Time  around 35 minutes ago........:

     General Motors Corp. reported a first-quarter profit on Thursday of $62 million, its second straight quarter in the black but down sharply from a year ago.

[ozpont]

.....  BUT.. not in North America...

May 4, 2007 / NY Times





DETROIT, May 3 — General Motors has placed all of its bets on its pickup trucks, which are strong enough to pull thousands of pounds through the mud, but from the looks of G.M.’s first quarter, are unable to pull the automaker out of its financial downturn.

Pickup sales have been hampered by rising gasoline prices and a slowdown in the housing market. G.M. lost $85 million on its North American automotive operations in the first quarter, a period in which most analysts thought the company should have been able to earn a profit.

Although the North American result was a considerable improvement from the $251 million loss in the first quarter of 2006, it raised concerns that G.M.’s turnaround had less traction than its executives repeatedly insisted.

“If you can’t make a significant profit now while you’re in full bloom on your product introductions, what happens when your lineup is a little bit older?” said Efraim Levy, an analyst with Standard & Poor’s Equity Research. “Right now, I don’t see any catalyst for the stock to move up.”

In fact, G.M. stock fell more than 5 percent, or $1.75, to close at $30.69. The earnings report led S.& P. to downgrade G.M. to sell from hold nearly a year and a half into the company’s overhaul effort, which includes 30,000 job cuts by 2008.