General Motors boosted by sales surge in China
Bust US car giant General Motors today said sales in China jumped 75% last month as it looked to Asia for salvation.
The 100-year-old firm, which is being propped up by the US government having collapsed yesterday in the world's biggest industrial bankruptcy, said it needs a new factory in China to deal with growing demand for its cars.
Its prospects in China are in stark contrast to those in the US, where President Barack Obama said the bankruptcy would take a "painful toll".
GM plans to close 11 plants in the US and mothball another three, shedding up to 20,000 jobs, while the future of its Vauxhall operations in the UK is also in doubt. It is also on the verge of selling gas-guzzling brand Hummer.
But executives in Asia stressed that the lower-cost Asia-Pacific operations would be part of the "new GM" that is expected to emerge leaner and with less debt within two or three months.
"We are safe. We are part of the new GM," said Mark Reuss, head of Australian operation GM Holden. Kevin Wale, president of GM China, also hailed "phenomenal" growth.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said US taxpayers have a "reasonable prospect" of getting a return from the $50 billion the government has injected in exchange for a 60% stake in the new GM.
