American Automotive Policy Council Pleased with GM Loan Repayment

After yesterday GM announced the payment of the full loan received last year from the US and Canada, several automotive industry players have expressed their satisfaction with the way in which GM handled perhaps its hardest time ever.

The latest group to congratulate GM is the American Automotive Policy Council, a front group for the three US Detroit automakers, which now says the hard time is over for the automotive industry for the Big Three.

"The American Automotive Policy Council is pleased to note the announcement by General Motors that the company is making an early repayment of its remaining $5.8 billion received in U.S. federal and Canadian government loans last year," the group says in a release.

"We are also pleased to note the Chrysler Group LLC has announced today it had an operating profit of $143 million for the first quarter of this year."

"Coming out of the most challenging economic environment in decades, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are each meeting or exceeding their benchmarks set to restructure, make difficult decisions, and restore their international competitiveness."

Last year, GM received $52 billion from the US government to survive the bankruptcy process. Out of that amount, $45.3 billion was converted into equity as the government got 61 percent of the car manufacturer.

Chrysler announced net revenues of $17.7 billion for 2009, an operating loss of $895 million and a net loss of $3.7 billion.

Ford on the other hand was the only carmaker to have made it through crisis without having to be bailed out by the US government.