Costs associated with the massive "Ignition Switch" safety recall and the continued expense of restructuring Opel's European operations have massively stunted General Motors' profits. Second quarter profit for GM tumbled from $1.26 billion in Q2 2013 to $190 million this year. That included the setting aside of $400 million to compensate the families of those killed by faulty airbags in the infamous Chevrolet Cobalt model.
GM recalled more than 20 million vehicles during the period, costing it around $1.5 billion.
By contrast, cross-town rival Ford is flying high. Ford's overall second quarter pretax profit was $2.6 billion while in Europe, Ford made a small $14million profit, compared to a $320million loss this time last year.
