US to sell GM stake over time

DETROIT: He is the fourth CEO at General Motors in less than 18 months, but Daniel F Akerson set out Thursday to show there is now stability at the top of the nation’s biggest automaker and that his ascension signals a clear break with the past.

Akerson distanced himself somewhat from his immediate predecessor, Edward E Whitacre Jr, who said in August that he wanted the Treasury Department to sell the government’s entire stake in GM.

“Not going to happen,” said Akerson. “I don’t think that’s going to be done in one fell swoop,” he said, suggesting it would take several years.