John Devine Quotes (22 Quotes)

It's clear from the data we're getting the disadvantage of some stronger headwinds,

We still believe in growth of the market. We still believe we're going to need our capacity, ... This is still a very important opportunity for the company and we don't want to be slow.

That's been going up in particular in the last couple of years. It's put a real drain on profitability, cash and a big dent in our balance sheet as a result of that. We think there is a potential for that to continue with health-care inflation the way it is.

There are things we can do. We did one of those today. Is that enough long term Absolutely not,

The cost reductions we've looked at are very tough to achieve. We're not doing it by cutting and slashing the business. We're growing it, doing the right things strategically and we're still getting the cost out.

In South America we're going in the wrong direction,

It's a good start on the 10 number, but we have a lot of work to do to reach it and then sustain it,

We expect some slowdown in the mortgage business as the refinance boom fades,

We have product and distribution plans to fit each of those brands, ... I know there's a lot of speculation about what we're doing and that's fine. But I want to be clear we do not have plans to drop any brands.

It's a good quarter. Good progress. We're not at a level yet in the automotive business that we're pleased with, so we have a lot of work to do. But we had another record quarter in financial services and a record year.

This is our 11th quarter of year-to-year improvement in our earnings. For the auto business, that's a pretty good track record.

Without the pension drag, we'd expect to make about 7.50 a share this year, ... We're not excusing the pension expense. But we'll be working through it, we'll get this behind us. Making the 10 (a share target) with the pension drag will be difficult but we're still committed to it.

This is Delphi's business and it's their call. We respect that. Delphi is very important to us. We obviously want to be as constructive as we can. That said, we're obviously going to do what's right for GM,

While we have made good progress in reducing costs over the last several years, the projected loss in North America reinforces our need to do much more, particularly in the area of healthcare, ... Healthcare has been an increasing drag on North American profits and it's made us vulnerable to profit shortfalls.

Robbie is a first class candidate and we are looking forward to him getting his sleeves rolled up and taking on the other candidates on the issues.

GM has a high degree of confidence in the business despite the volatility in the marketplace and the intense competitive environment, ... GM's inventory levels came down significantly during the first half and are now at appropriate levels. This should allow us to maintain reasonably stable production rates for the balance of the year.

very challenging, but we plan to get it done.

As we stand today, we don't know what the outcome is for Delphi, that's their call,

It is just above breakeven, but we think it's an important signal inside the company and outside the company that we were able to maintain automotive profitability,

Devine said the company saw fewer sales of higher-priced, more profitable sportutility vehicles and pickups, and more sales of small SUVs and cars, in the quarter. GM's sales mix has been relatively strong in recent years, ... And after reasonably stable (U.S. market) share the last four to five years, we're down this year, and it hurts.

Overall, 2002 will be a very challenging year for the industry,

The private entrepreneur who is the heart of our system today will continue in the future. I don't think that's going to change. But there is obviously going to be a major change in a number of the parts of distribution.