General Motors Co suffered from "incompetence and neglect" in dealing with a long-running ignition-switch defect in vehicles linked to at least 13 deaths, CEO Mary Barra said yesterday, as she announced the creation of a fund to compensate victims.

US vice president Joe Biden says the US government’s wager on the motor industry has paid off.

General Motors Co, which announced a 30 cent a share dividend yesterday, forecast 2014 profit to modestly improve this year, as it introduces 15 new or refreshed vehicles in the US and 17 in China.

The chief executive of loss-making carmaker Opel has abruptly stepped down, a sign that top management at parent General Motors want to speed up what has been a slow-moving restructuring plan.

General Motors Co, the world’s largest automaker, said first-quarter profit topped analysts’ estimates as the company sold more vehicles globally.