The Detroit-based automotive empire General Motors (GM) has bounced back from the brink of financial oblivion to achieve its first profit for almost three years, as US motorists returned to car showrooms in spite of ongoing sluggishness in Europe’s motor industry.
GM, which owns brands including Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and Vauxhall, produced an US$865 million profit for the first quarter, a remarkable turnaround from its loss of almost US$6 billion for the same period a year ago.
“We’re in the process of rebuilding a company here and putting down the foundations is one of the most important things when you’re rebuilding,” GM chief financial officer Chris Liddell said. “One of those foundations is clearly achieving profitability.”
GM collapsed into bankruptcy in June last year and was kept afloat through an emergency investment of US$61 billion from the US and Canadian governments, which now own 73 percent of its stock. The improvement in its fortunes is a result of cost cutting, strong sales of new models in the US and a jump in sales in emerging markets such as China and Brazil.
The number of vehicles sold globally by GM jumped 23 percent to 1.99 million as the company reopened factories that were temporarily idled at the worst point of the global financial crisis. In the US, the company moved from a US$3.4 billion operating loss to a US$1.2 billion profit. However, GM’s European business, which includes Vauxhall factories in the UK in Luton and Merseyside, continued to struggle with a loss of US$506 million, down from last year’s US$814 million deficit.
“In Europe, we lost money,” Liddell said. “So Europe is still the area where we need to make the most progress.”
GM is not alone in finding the European market tough. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said yesterday that new car sales across the continent dropped by 7.4 percent last month to 1.13 million registrations following the winding down of “cash for clunkers” schemes that had encouraged motorists to scrap older vehicles.
“Government support has ended or begun to fade out and the economic situation remains difficult,” the association said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique