General Motors Not Seeing Signs of U.S. Recovery, Wagoner Says

By Jeff Green

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said he's not yet seeing signs of recovery in the U.S. economy or in vehicle sales following the recent decline in oil prices.

``It still feels to me like we're in it,'' the CEO of the world's largest automaker said, referring to the sluggish economy that helped push GM to $15.5 billion in losses in the second quarter. He was speaking at the Athens Coney Island restaurant in Royal Oak, Michigan, after leading a morning parade of classic GM cars from the last 100 years.

Wagoner is trying to increase cash by at least $15 billion before the end of next year to pay the bills while he tries to recover sales lost to rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. GM's U.S. market share is the lowest since 1925 and the Detroit automaker has lost $69.8 billion since 2004, its last profitable year.

Gasoline prices that topped $4 a gallon in the U.S. this year have soured U.S. buyers on GM trucks, which make up a majority of domestic sales.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan, at jgreen16@bloomberg.net