From Bloomberg:
General Motors Co. (GM), less than two years after declaring bankruptcy, is poised to reclaim the global auto sales lead from a Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) rattled by both natural disasters and reports of slipping quality.
More surprising is that GM may retain the top spot after auto-parts production in Japan recovers from the March 11 earthquake. Detroit-based GM plans to invest at least $5 billion in China to double sales to 5 million vehicles by 2015. After years of losing ground in the U.S. to cars like Toyota’s Camry, GM’s Malibu has won better reviews and a new version is coming.
Add it up and GM may retake the sales crown lost in 2008, when the U.S. automaker lost $30.9 billion and sought a federal bailout following Toyota’s most profitable fiscal year. Today GM is on the mend while Toyota confronts a slumping reputation, a stronger yen that hurts profit on U.S. sales, and the prospect that its production in Japan won’t recover until November…
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EDITOR: The near trillion dollar TARP to bail out the banking system ended up costing almost nothing and all three auto companies, two of which were insolvent, are now earning profits. Yet Democrats were pilloried by Republicans for the Recovery Act and bailing our Chrysler and General Moters. Was it ignorance or obstructionism, or a combination of both?
