General Motors give out bonuses for the first time since 2003

General Motors give out bonuses for the first time since 2003

US based automaker GM has given some of their top executives bonuses for the first time since 2003. The world’s largest automaker is struggling in their home market where consumers are increasingly preferring to buy Japanese cars.

The company also continues to cut jobs and close down loss making plants. As per available information, GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner received restricted stock valued at $3 million and 500,000 stock options, valued at $1.4 million.

GM had posted losses of $10.4 billion in 2005 and $2 billion in 2006. The top executives took a pay cut to reflect the poor performance of the company.

The company has been performing relatively well in the recent times. Their shares have risen more than 40 percent over the past 12 months.

Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson said on GM’s performance: “The company has pulled itself out of significant losses … we do not view the stock and option grants as excessive. More fundamentally, however, we are concerned that the grants may represent a sense of “mission accomplished” at (the GM headquarters) and the UAW.”