Cost-cuts help GM trim loss to $115mn

US auto behemoth General Motors (GM) has reduced its losses by about 90% as the turnaround plan starts to kick in.

The company lost $115 million  in the quarter ended September 2006. Had it not been for a series of one-off charges, the company said it would have posted a profit.

In the same period a year ago, GM lost $1.7 billion.

Along with US rival Ford, it has struggled with falling profits and sales in the face of competition from Japanese rivals.

An over-reliance on gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs), at a time when fuel prices have soared, has been blamed as the major reason for

In July, the firm announced that its second-quarter losses had widened to $3.2 billion from $987 million in 2005, as a result of the expense of implementing its ongoing cost-cutting strategy.