US car giant General Motors (GM) is hoping to return to profit in 2010, a top executive at the firm has said.

In the past 18 months, GM has lost $57.5bn (£31.36bn), $15.5bn in the second quarter of 2008 alone.

GM has closed factories and laid off staff but has struggled to counter a slowing economy and rising fuel prices.

If GM continues to cut costs and car sales recover in 2010 “we would hope to have the corporation profitable again by then,” vice chairman Bob Lutz said.

But he added: “At this point, the future is so cloudy in terms of the development of the market, when it’s going to pick up again.”

The company is losing money on all its model lines, Mr Lutz said.

Prices for small, more fuel-efficient, cars should rise as demand grows, he added.

Hummer slowdown

High fuel costs have dampened demand for the large sports utility vehicles that GM is known for.

The company has previously said it will consider selling the iconic Hummer brand.

Among the mooted buyers are Russian Machines, the engineering firm which makes trains, planes and some automobile parts and Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra.

GM bought the Hummer brand in 1998. In June, Hummer sales were slightly over 2,000, well below their peak.

News reported by The BBC

Ever since General Motors announced that it was considering selling the iconic Hummer brand, speculation has surrounded who might buy it.

The latest name to emerge on the list of prospective suitors is Russian Machines, the engineering firm which makes trains, planes and some automobile parts.

Owned by one of Russia’s richest men, Oleg Deripaska, Russian Machines was reported to be in talks with GM about buying Hummer.

But it issued a swift denial, saying it was “not strategically interested in such a deal”.

“You couldn’t think of a worst time to be selling a brand like Hummer”< strong> Jay Nagley, Spyder Automotive

Previously, reports had suggested Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra was involved in “exploratory talks” with GM about buying Hummer.

Observers suggested this would have been a good fit, as Mahindra already makes trucks and sports utility vehicles and is the main rival to Tata Motors, which recently bought Land Rover from Ford.

But GM would only say it was discussing the sale of the brand with “a number of potential buyers”, without naming any names.

‘Bad timing’

“Not everyone in the world has perfect roads to drive on and there is no brand that conquers that like Hummer” Joanne Krell, GM spokesperson

With little let-up in the rising price of fuel over the last few months, analysts suggest General Motors has not picked a great time to sell a brand not renowned for its fuel efficiency.

“You couldn’t think of a worst time to be selling a brand like Hummer,” said analyst Jay Nagley from Spyder Automotive.

“It is typical of large corporations to jump on the bandwagon when SUVs were fashionable, then try to sell it when the wheels have well and truly come off.”

GM bought the Hummer brand in 1998, a number of years before its heyday when celebrities like footballer David Beckham and former film star Arnold Schwarzenegger were photographed driving theirs.

The now Governor of California still has his, but in a sign of the more environmentally conscious times, has had the vehicle converted to run on biofuel.

‘Tastes change’

Like most big motor companies, GM has suffered from falling sales as cash-strapped consumers have cut back on big purchases.

It made a net loss of $15.5bn (£7.8bn) in just three months between April and June this year.

In June, Hummer sales were slightly over 2,000, well below their peak.

But General Motors defended its brand, saying it was still relevant and needed in some parts of the world.

“Not everyone in the world has perfect roads to drive on and there is no brand that conquers that like Hummer,” said GM spokesperson Joanne Krell.

“For some, who bought it less for utility than desire, we are seeing a backing-off because tastes change.

“But we shouldn’t get carried away and say that takes away the need for an off-road vehicle like Hummer.”

GM thinks there will be someone who can “maximise the potential of the brand” better than it currently can.

Whoever that is, according to analysts, will have to have deep pockets and is most likely to come from Russia, China or India.

News reported by The BBC

US carmaker General Motors (GM) has unveiled its new fuel-efficient 2010-version of the Camaro, the sports car it retired in 2002.

The move comes after GM said it was closing four truck and SUV factories, and looking to sell its Hummer brand.

Production will begin in February 2009 at the GM Oshawa plant in Canada and hit showrooms later that year.

It comes with V-6, 3.6-litre engines in its LS and LT models, and V-8 powered, 6.2-litre engines in its SS model.

‘Cultural icon’

“It’s a sports car for a new generation of enthusiasts that doesn’t forget the heritage that helped make the original a cultural icon,” Ed Peper, GM North America vice-president for Chevrolet, said in a statement.

The firm first announced it would produce a new a Camaro in 2006.

GM is the US’s top-selling carmaker, but this year its share price has plummeted by more than 60% as investor confidence in the company has dissipated.

It, and other carmakers, are under pressure because of high fuel prices and a dip in demand for larger cars such as sports utility vehicles (SUVs), and rival Toyota has overtaken it in terms of global sales.

Hummer sale

Earlier in July the firm announced it would cut white collar employment costs by 20% as it seeks to counteract falling sales.

GM also said then it would sell as much as $4bn (£1.9bn) of assets, and borrow about $2bn to bolster its finances.

It expects that the measures will free up about $15bn by the end of 2009.

In the first half of 2008, truck sales sank 21%, while overall sales fell 16%.

In June, GM announced the closure of four truck and SUV factories in North America and Mexico, and said it would increase production of smaller more fuel-efficient cars.

The firm has already said it is looking at selling its well-known Hummer SUV brand, but so far it has not released details of its plans for its other brands.

News reported by The BBC

Facing a disastrous slump in sales of its flashy gas guzzling pick-up trucks and sport-utility vehicles, the world’s biggest car manufacturer, General Motors, said yesterday that it needs to raise $15bn (£7.5bn) by 2009 if it is to weather the storm ahead.

It is the second major revamp which GM has announced in six weeks.

Denying reports that the company was nearing insolvency, Dan Flores, a spokesman, said: “Bankruptcy protection is not an option that GM is considering.”

The rescue plan outlined by GM’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, involves selling $2bn in assets worldwide, slashing the costs of full-time workers 20 per cent, ending the quarterly shareholder dividend, and closing more production lines for trucks in order to fund a turnaround for another two years. GM also plans to borrow up to $3bn to help pay for the restructuring.

GM has been burning through $3bn in cash a quarter, rapidly reducing its $24bn cash stockpile. Analysts were unanimous in the view that the company needs to act quickly to avoid being driven into bankruptcy by a liquidity crisis.

Nothing is safe, it seems, in this company. GM is famous for featherbedding former employees, long after they have gone into retirement. Mr Wagoner said the car maker will end its healthcare cover for retirees at age 65, speed up early retirement, and freeze base pay rates for employees through 2009.

GM has 32,000 administrative employees in the US, which is down from 45,000 in 2000. It has already sacked more than 40,000 employees on hourly wages since 2006.

Mr Wagoner is also spreading the pain to company executives by ending discretionary cash bonuses.

“These are tough but necessary actions,” Mr Wagoner said, “and these, along with current cash and available credit lines, will provide us with ample liquidity through 2009, even under conservative US industry sales assumptions.”

The news initially sent GM shares to a new low of $8.85, but they recovered to close up nearly 5 per cent at $9.38. The stock was worth more than $40 a share last October.

Last month, Mr Wagoner said he was closing four truck manufacturing plants in the US. Salaried workers who escaped those cuts are now imperilled.

In the first half of 2008, the company’s sales collapsed 16 per cent (overall industry sales were down 10 per cent), with GM’s truck sales declining by 17.9 per cent.

GM is not alone in its financial woes. Ford began sacking workers recently to cut 15 per cent of its administrative workforce costs by 1 August. Ford has also mothballed manufacturing plants and delayed the introduction of its famously inefficient F-150 pick-up in the face of high petrol prices.

News reported by The Independent