General Motors reported surprisingly strong results yesterday, potentially easing pressure on its chief executive, Rick Wagoner, to forge an alliance with Japan's Nissan and Renault of France.
The Detroit-based carmaker's shares surged after it reported a second-quarter profit before special items, positive cash flow and a markedly improved performance at its troubled North American operations.
"Our turnaround has not just gained traction, it's accelerating into high gear," Mr Wagoner said. "Conventional wisdom is that you can't turn a ship as big as GM around quickly. We aim to prove that conventional wisdom wrong."
GM has shown less enthusiasm than Renault and Nissan for an alliance of the three companies, proposed last month by Kirk Kerkorian, the reclusive billionaire who owns almost 10 per cent of GM's shares.
In a jab at Jerry York, Mr Kerkorian's chief adviser, who gained a seat on GM's board this year, Mr Wagoner singled out a 24 per cent rise in sales of Saab, GM's Swedish-based unit, in the first half of this year. Mr York has suggested GM ditch Saab.
GM, the world's biggest carmaker by volume, reported a net second-quarter loss of $3.2 billion (€2.5 billion). But the bottom line figure included $4.3 billion in one-time charges, mainly from severance packages taken by a third of GM's North American blue-collar workforce.
