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" General Motors reported a first-quarter loss of $1.1 billion as sales slumped in North America and profits fell in China.   GM&amp;#039;s revenues in North America dropped by nearly 13% to $25.38 billion, from $29.1 billion during the quarter.   The company&amp;#039;s first-quarter loss of $1.1 billion compares with a profit of $1.21 billion in the year-ago period. The results included charges totaling $265 million related to costs of a restructuring in Europe and a buyout program offered recently to white-collar employees, among other things. Worldwide revenue declined 4.3% to $45.77 billion from $47.83 billion.   GM said its worldwide automotive operations suffered a $4.7 billion cash outflow in the quarter, including a $3 billion outflow from regular operations and another $1.7 billion spent to cut jobs in Europe and make payments to Italian automaker Fiat as part of an agreement to dissolve an unsuccessful alliance.   Overall, GM&amp;#039;s cash outflow for the quarter totaled $3.5 billion, including a $500 million dividend to the parent from profitable finance unit General Motors Acceptance Corp.   North America, GM&amp;#039;s flagship region, accounted for almost all of the losses GM&amp;#039;s automotive operations took during the quarter. GM&amp;#039;s automotive operations reported a loss of $1.3 billion, compared with earnings of $561 million a year ago.   In Europe, GM posted a loss of $103 million, an improvement from a loss of $116 million the year earlier. In Latin America, Africa and the Mideast, however, GM&amp;#039;s earnings rose to $46 million from $1 million thanks to record sales volume during the quarter.   The company&amp;#039;s GMAC financing arm earned $728 million in the quarter, down from $764 million a year ago.   GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said in a statement: &amp;quot;We have well thought-out plans to address GMNA&amp;#039;s poor performance, starting with aggressive product introductions this year, value-focused marketing initiatives, and further reductions in our cost structure, where the greatest need is to address the challenging health-care cost situation.&amp;quot;   &amp;quot;While we were encouraged by improved sales in March, we significantly reduced production volumes during the first quarter to balance inventories,&amp;quot; Wagoner said. &amp;quot;These adjustments reduced dealer inventory levels by nearly 100,000 units from the year-ago period, but they also adversely affected our North American financial results.   &amp;quot;We clearly have the need to do a much better job on both the revenue and cost side of our business,&amp;quot; Wagoner added. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10877/more-bad-news-for-general-motors/>