Chevrolet Confident GM Will Pay Debts Soon

Since the recent sales figures have shown a major recovery for US-based carmaker General Motors, Chevrolet believes the parent company will be able to pay its debts in the near future. The $50 billion bailout will be paid in the near term horizon, a Chevrolet official told just-auto.com at the debut of the Orlando MPV in Spain, hinting that GM might have the financial power to clear its balance sheet.

"We have every intention to pay down our debt completely and that is in the near term horizon," president Chevrolet Europe Wayne Brannon was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.

"The vision of the company that people were attracted to [was] of a clear balance sheet and profits coming to the bottom line. The issue is that GM right now is earning between USD4bn and USD5bn this year - the industry is still depressed somewhat but it has still got a bit of headroom to grow."

Truth is, General Motors has already started paying its debts to governments across the world from which it received money to fight the crisis. This week, General Motors announced that it has paid an additional $1 billion of debt to Korea, so its local division, GM Daewoo can now concentrate on its normal business. Two models are to be launched in Europe in 2013 under this particular brand, the company said in a statement.

“Following our successful IPO, we will continue to take opportunities to strengthen our balance sheet. Our objective remains to have minimal debt and a fully funded pension plan,” said Chris Liddell, GM's Chief Financial Officer.