GM raises '98 cost-cutting bogie to $4 billion, buys back more stock

General Motors Corp. Chairman Jack Smith tells analysts in March that GM expects to slash another $4 billion from its worldwide costs this year on top of $3.5 billion last year. About $400 million will come from previously announced measures such as the 1999 shuttering of a Flint, MI, car assembly plant, job cutbacks in Europe and the sale of Delphi Automotive Systems seating and lighting plants. The majority will come from reducing materials and parts costs. GM also has begun another $4-billion stock repurchase program. The company bought back about $5 billion of its stock over the last year.