GM still struggling in Europe

Presenting second-quarter earnings in Detroit on Thursday, GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson said that "management and German unions are continuing to discuss a broad range of issues that will help ensure the sustainability of the business, including productivity, cost and capacity."

He said he hoped to have a "comprehensive deal" with unions by the autumn.

GM reported a second-quarter operating loss of $361 million (296 million euros) in Europe - less than rival Ford's $404 million loss in the region, but much worse than last year's profit of $102 million.

Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann told reporters that GM had been working around the problems in Europe for a "number of quarters" and said the company is bracing for more trouble.

"If we're talking about the general European economy and the industry overall, we continue to see a very challenging environment in the second half," he said.

Overall net income at GM fell to $1.5 billion from $2.5 billion in the second quarter of 2011, which Akerson blamed mainly on the strengthening US dollar.

mkg/jm (AFP, Reuters, dpa)