Ron Zarrella, president of General Motors' North American operations, says he's not worried that rising fuel prices will undermine full-size truck sales - which are important to GM profitability.
"For one thing, fuel prices are beginning to moderate," he tells me at the New York Auto Show where GM debuted some pretty big truck-based vehicles. "And even going from $1.25 to $1.85 a gallon is only $400 more a year. That has little impact on someone buying a $40,000 vehicle."
Also, if you look at gasoline affordability, even at $1.85 a gallon, fuel is more affordable than it was 15 years ago if you adjust for higher wages, says Mr. Zarrella.
Meanwhile, he says relations between GM and dealers are a lot better than they were a year ago when dealers were miffed at one controversial GM initiative after another - such as a plan to buy dealerships.
"I've been spending a lot of time with dealers at meetings, and the atmosphere is a lot different than before," says Mr. Zarrella.
The biggest dealer gripe these days? Not being able to get enough of those popular full-size trucks and SUVs, says Mr. Zarrella.
"They want more and we're making as many as we can," he says.
