General Motors Co.'s chairman expects the automaker will be profitable this year and says hundreds of the 1,350 GM dealers who lost their franchises last year could see them restored. Chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. also said that new Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell is a candidate to take the CEO post permanently. And Whitacre said he's not confident about selling the Swedish Saab brand. In a wide-ranging talk with reporters at GM's Detroit headquarters, Whitacre predicted that GM would be profitable this year, although he said that was dependent on the economy and other factors. “Do we have obstacles in our way? Of course we do,” Whitacre said, adding he's confident that GM's management team has the company moving forward. A full-year profit for GM, which left bankruptcy protection in July, would be the company's first since 2004 when it made $2.7 billion. It has posted more than $88 billion in losses since then. Dealers are getting a chance to regain lost franchises as a result of a congressionally mandated arbitration process that begins later this month. The 1,350 GM dealerships, which were allowed to stay open until October 2010, were targeted as part of an effort to dump poor performers and better align its dealer base with much lower consumer demand for autos. In many cases, GM had dealerships too close to one another and were competing on price, the company said. First electric car battery General Motors made its first mass-produced electric car battery Thursday as it gears up to sell the new Chevrolet Volt to the general public later this year. The lithium-ion battery was made at GM's Brownstown Battery Pack Assembly Plant that will produce the batteries for the automaker's Volt assembly line in Detroit. Regular production at both facilities is expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Whitacre old reporters Wednesday that GM will send out some Volt models before November, when they are scheduled to hit showrooms. He said the company might sell a few early, and it could send some to consumers before November. GM has plans to test about 100 Volts with utility firms before the showroom debut.
