GM's CEO has "very good" outlook on Brazil: report

Henderson told Estado that a policy to reinvest the Brazilian profits into the same operation has no "deadline for a change." He plans to visit Brazil in November to address future expansion plans, the newspaper reported.

GM, the automaker that emerged from a U.S. government-sponsored bankruptcy in July, will push on with a massive investment plan in South America, betting on emerging markets such as Brazil. A $2.5 billion investment plan for the 2007-2012 period for the Mercosur region has been nearly funded, executives said in June.

GM's downsizing in the United States isn't a concern, he said, adding that the company is working to boost market share in countries like China and Brazil. The car market in the United States tumbled to post World War II levels this year, Henderson told the newspaper.

Emerging markets have picked up the slack for sagging vehicle sales in the United States, where the worst recession in about eight decades led automakers to slash production and seek money from the government to keep afloat.

Henderson said a plan by the U.S. government to sell its stake in GM is yet to be defined, but added the restructured company might go public around the second half of 2010, Estado reported.

Henderson also shrugged off speculation over the departure of Chief Financial Officer Ray Young. Both Young and Henderson, as well as former CEO Rick Wagoner, were heads of GM's Brazil unit.

(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Derek Caney)