GM says it still has cuts ahead

DETROIT, May 1 (UPI) -- Cutbacks at General Motors Corp. to pull itself out of the red are not over, GM Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said.

The cuts made to create a sleeker company "were necessary and important," Henderson said, but, "you've got to do more."

After posting its third consecutive quarter of losses -- including $3.25 billion in the first quarter of 2008 -- GM said it was scaling back 2008 sales projections from the low 16 millions to the high 15 millions, The Detroit News reported Thursday.

Henderson said the company, which has trimmed annual costs by $9 billion since 2006, needed "fewer, better" cars and trucks, the News reported.

Several analysts said the company was coming close.

"GM is pretty close to where it needs to be," David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research said.

"They're not out of the woods with their turnaround, but they're continuing to make progress," Mainstay Capital Management analyst David Kudla told The News.