Whitacre Wants Spit-and-Polished Image for GM

General Motors Co. Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre wants Americans to perceive the recently bankrupt auto maker as “the world’s best company,” and expects to turn a profit this year.

Whitacre also tells journalists during a roundtable discussion the auto maker’s Saab Automobile AB operation likely will be killed at the end of the week.

“We are proceeding with the wind down,” Whitacre ...