General Motors May Need To Lower Costs In Europe To Cover Brexit-Related Headwinds

Add General Motors Company GM's name to a list of companies that have "Brexit"-related concerns.

According to Reuters, General Motors may need to lower its costs in Europe to offset as much as $400 million of headwinds that are related to the Brexit vote. In fact, the sharp drop in the country's currency now calls into question General Motors' ability to see a full-year profit in its Opel and Vauxhall units.

"We are facing strong headwinds at the moment, particularly in our largest market - the United Kingdom," Reuters quoted Opel's CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann as saying in a video. "The Brexit decision is not a good omen. Therefore the second half of this year is going to be anything but easy."

Investors hoping that General Motors would reverse more than a decade long stretch of unprofitable operations in Europe this year may need to wait longer. Reuters quoted George Galliers of Evercore who said that a profit in Europe is now "in the balance," even though the company itself described Brexit has a "speed bump."

"Very early days, I would suggest everything is on the table as we see how this plays out," General Motors' Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said.

Shares of General Motors were trading higher by nearly 2 percent at $32.10 Thursday afternoon.