General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., U.S. automakers trying to boost the results of their European units, are moving to break even or turn a profit in the market this year amid the continent’s economic problems. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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“This time two years ago our operations in Europe were in severe difficulty, losing a lot of money,” GM Europe President Nick Reilly told reporters today at the Frankfurt auto show. “Two years later, the atmosphere is totally different.”
GM is trying to end losses in Europe, which have totaled $14.5 billion since 1999. Ford’s surprise $51 million pretax loss in Europe in 2010’s fourth quarter began a 40 percent slide in its share price this year through yesterday. Pretax profit in Ford’s European operations plunged 45 percent to $176 million in this year’s second quarter.
“Wall Street expects you to be making profit all over the world, including Europe,” Rebecca Lindland, an industry analyst with IHS Automotive, said in an interview on the floor of the auto show.
The efforts by GM and Ford come as Europe has become entangled in concerns about sovereign debt, including a possible default in Greece which has imperiled the stability of the euro.
“We’re worried, yes,” Reilly said. “Having said that, so far we have seen no impact on our order intake.”
