General Motors Co. says it lost $1.2 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection through Sept. 30, far better than it has reported in previous quarters and a sign that the auto giant is starting to turn around its business.

The company also says it will begin repaying $6.7 billion in U.S. government loans with a $1.2 billion payment in December. It could pay off the full amount by 2011, four years ahead of schedule.

GM said its improved performance was fueled by new products including the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car, and the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain midsize crossover vehicles. The company's top sellers through October were the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and Impala full-size car.

The board of General Motors Co has opted to keep Opel, undoing months of painstaking negotiations to sell the European unit to a Russian-backed group led by Canada's Magna.

GM confirmed the decision made by its 13-member board after a meeting of directors on Tuesday in Detroit, saying that improving business conditions and the strategic importance of Opel to its operations had prompted the decision.

"GM will soon present its restructuring plan to Germany and other governments and hopes for its favorable consideration," GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

General Motors reported its first monthly gain in U.S. sales in almost two years, while Toyota and Ford also improved, a sign the auto industry it starting to crawl back from a yearlong slump.

Demand for new cars and crossovers in October fueled better results for General Motors and Detroit rival Ford Motor (F). GM's sales rose 4 percent from October 2008, while Ford notched a 3-percent gain. Japanese rival Toyota Motor (TM) said its sales edged up less than a percent. Less rosy news came from Chrysler Group, whose sales fell 30 percent, though they improved from September.

U.S. auto sales in October are expected to provide more evidence that the worst of the industry's four-year downturn has passed, while leaving open doubts about the speed and strength of the recovery.

Analysts and executives expect U.S. auto sales will be above 10 million vehicles on the annualized basis tracked by the industry.

General Motors Co. said it has received permission to use $2.8 billion of its government aid to help buy part of troubled auto parts supplier Delphi Corp., the automaker's former parts division.

The Detroit automaker said Monday in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the Treasury Department granted the release of $1.7 billion to acquire "a membership interest" in the new Delphi entity that emerged from bankruptcy protection.

The size of the ownership stake was not disclosed but GM is expected to receive a minority interest in the auto supplier that will diminish over time as GM is repaid for its investment.

When a General Motors plant in Wilmington, Del. shut down this July, it left 550 people out of work. But the city isn't mourning the loss of Big Auto so much anymore because Very Little Electric Auto is taking its place. Fisker, maker of small plug-in hybrid cars, announced Tuesday it was buying the recently-shuttered GM plant in Wilmington, and in 2012 would have 2,000 people working there. By 2014, the plant could be making 100,000 cars a year and employ 2,500 workers.

Far from its roots building Pontiac, Saturn and Opel sports cars for GM, the factory will produce a car code-named "Project NINA," a family-oriented plug-in electric vehicle. The car will be targeted to a very different consumer for Fisker, which has yet to bring a product to market. Its first concept, a gorgeous-but-spendy plug-in sports car called the Karma, received raves for its beauty and shock for its impracticality when the company secured a $528 million Department of Energy loan in September. The company is taking pre-orders for the car, which should be delivered in 2010.

Several sources are saying that GMAC, the former lending arm of GM, is negotiating with the Treasury to get as much as $5.6 billion more in bailout money. The financial firm has already received $13.5 billion from the federal government.

The main reason for helping GMAC is obvious; GM relies on the company to provide auto loans to dealerships and individual consumers. If its ability to lend were compromised, GM could be badly hurt. A lack of leasing options is already being blamed for much of Cadillac's 44 percent drop in sales during the first nine months of this year. While GMAC might survive without the government funds, its ability to make new loans would be crippled.

Fiat never managed to sell many cars in the U.S. when it was competing with The Big Three and the Japanese makers, and in 1981 it pulled out of the American market altogether. That makes Chrysler's decision to use Fiat models to pull itself out of one of the worst sales slumps in its history all the more puzzling. Chrysler's sales have been down more than other car companies operating in the domestic market. In many months, Chrysler sales have been off over 40 percent this year compared to 2008.

An exclusive report in The Wall Street Journal says that Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne, who is also CEO of Chrysler, will begin to import Fiat models, modified for the U.S. market, in 2012. In the meantime, according to the paper, "Chrysler is preparing to phase out many current models, including a number of Dodge cars, the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan and several Jeeps."

Americans can be excused for thinking that executives at the seven companies receiving TARP bailout funds would see a pay cut this year, following yesterday's news that the U.S. Treasury's pay czar would slash executive compensation by as much as 90 percent starting next month.

But at least one chief executive among the troubled automotive and banking companies is getting a raise -- Fritz Henderson, who replaced Rick Wagoner as General Motors CEO in March. Henderson (pictured) will see his total annual compensation rise to nearly $5.5 million under guidelines imposed on top executives at companies that received funds under the federal government's bailout plans, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.