GM's new CEO cancels trip to Shanghai auto show

Shanghai, April 17 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors Corp's new Chief Executive Fritz Henderson has canceled his trip to next week's Shanghai auto show, Reuters cited a spokesman saying on Friday.

"Business in the (United) States is his first priority right now," said Michael Albano, a spokesman at GM Asia Pacific, adding the decision was made on Thursday. "He knows that China and Asia are important, and he was holding out till the last minute and hoping to make it, but it just didn't work out."

Henderson took over at GM less than a month ago after the White House ousted former chief Rick Wagoner, and has until the end of May to present the struggling U.S automaker's viability plan.

The new CEO of General Motors is scheduled to update the media on GM's restructuring later on Friday in the first of a series of updates designed to provide perspective on the situation at the company. Henderson has said GM would prefer to restructure out of court but was prepared to file for bankruptcy if necessary.

Even on the verge of bankruptcy in its home U.S. market, General Motors expects to enjoy further growth in China. GM plans to boost its investment and capacity in China to maintain its auto sales leadership in this booming market, doubling its annual sales to 2 million cars within five years.

The 2009 Shanghai auto show, or Auto Shanghai 2009 (as officially named in its logo), will kick off on April 20 and run through April 28, with the first two days open for the press preview.