Yesterday, General Motors published their preliminary Q4 and 2008 year-end financial results, posting one of the biggest losses in company history. During the fourth quarter alone, GM managed to burn through US$9.6 billion (net) and suffer a $15.71 loss per diluted share. GM reported a 2008 adjusted net loss of $16.8 billion and a net loss of $30.9 billion, in total for the year. Globally, GM reported an adjusted pre-tax loss of $10.4 billion and an 8.35 million-vehicle slump in worldwide sales. Fortunately, despite the beating taken on their home turf, GM fared much better abroad, ending 2008 with sales in their Asia Pacific and Latin America regions accounting for 64% of their global total. Individually, both GMAP (GM Asia Pacific) and GMLAAM (GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East) each grew in sales volume by nearly 3 percent, while GM Europe managed to post another 2 million-vehicle growth spurt for the third year in a row.
“2008 was an extremely difficult year for the U.S. and global auto markets, especially the second half,” said GM CEO Rick Wagoner. “These conditions created a very challenging environment for GM and other automakers, and led us to take further aggressive and difficult measures to restructure our business.” Wagoner continued, “We expect these challenging conditions will continue through 2009, and so we are accelerating our restructuring actions. At the same time, we are continuing our commitment to exciting, fuel-efficient cars and trucks, and the leadership in advanced propulsion technology.”
