GM CEO says U.S. Auto Mergers Unlikely

NEW YORK, March 8, 2007; Reuters reported that General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said he does not expect a consolidation in the U.S. auto industry in the near term despite the intense pressures from fierce competition and excess production capacity, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The U.S. auto industry has enough plants to produce more vehicles than it sells for at least 10 years, Wagoner said in an interview at the Geneva auto show. "What's going to make it go away?" he said in the Journal.

The Journal said he declined to comment on recent reports that GM has had talks with DaimlerChrysler AG about buying the company's ailing Chrysler Group.