Apr 30th, 2008 by Liz Opsitnik
The Detroit News reports today that GM has lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2008. This is huge, compared to GM’s net loss of $42 million in the first quarter of 2007.
Why such a huge loss? The strike at parts maker and supplier American Axle and Manufacturing, a weak U.S. market and plunging sales of large SUV’s and pickups all contributed to gobbling up GM’s profits, causing the company to report such a loss.
The loss follows an announcement earlier this week to cut production of SUV’s and large trucks by 140,000 vehicles this year.
“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.
“We remain focused on taking the actions necessary to assure GM’s long-term success — product excellence, leadership in advanced propulsion technology, growth in emerging markets and accelerating the restructuring of our U.S. business to achieve sustainable profitability.”
GM, the nation’s biggest automaker, is experiencing its third straight quarterly deficit.
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