DETROIT (AP) — General Motors CEO Dan Akerson said Tuesday that he is concerned about the U.S. government's high deficit and what he called a jobless economic recovery.
The government needs a plan to pay down the roughly $14 trillion deficit, Akerson told reporters before the company's annual shareholder meeting in Detroit.
"It doesn't mean we have to cure it overnight, but we have to have a 10-year plan," he said, adding that such a plan would settle the markets.
Akerson said he's concerned about the recovery's lack of jobs. If more jobs are created, more people will buy cars and other durable goods, he said. He also predicts it will take a long time to shed the excesses of loose credit policies that began in the mid-1990s.
During his speech to shareholders, Akerson said the company will sell the Cadillac and Chevrolet brands globally while other brands will be sold regionally. He hopes to start producing Cadillacs outside North America in the next 12 to 18 months.
The meeting was GM's first since 2008 and the company's first in Detroit since 1990.
