1,350 GM dealers who lost their franchises last year could see them restored

[a kennedy]

TOM KRISHER

DETROIT — General Motors Co.'s chairman expects the automaker will be profitable this year and says hundreds of the 1,350 GM dealers who lost their franchises last year could see them restored.

Chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. also said that new Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell is a candidate to take the CEO post permanently. And Whitacre said he's not confident about selling the Swedish Saab brand.

In a wide-ranging talk with reporters at GM's Detroit headquarters, Whitacre predicted that GM would be profitable this year, although he said that was dependent on the economy and other factors.

"Do we have obstacles in our way? Of course we do," Whitacre said, adding he's confident that GM's management team has the company moving forward.

A full-year profit for GM, which left bankruptcy protection in July, would be the company's first since 2004 when it made $2.7 billion. It has posted more than $88 billion in losses since then.

Dealers are getting a chance to regain lost franchises as a result of a congressionally mandated arbitration process that begins later this month.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/07/gm-2010-profit-expected-m_n_414391.html