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Moody's affirms GM's Ba1 rating, positive outlook

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday left unchanged its Ba1 credit rating on General Motors Co. , adding the car company's outlook remains positive. "GM's credit quality continues to improve and the company remains on track to regain an investment grade credit rating over the course of the next 12 months," said Bruce Clark, Senior Vice President and Moody's lead analyst for the North American auto industry. Moody's said the positive outlook reflects GM's competitive North American business model, improved cost structure, steady stream of new products and strong position in Asian markets, especially China. "These strengths should enable GM to generate credit metrics that could be supportive of an investment grade rating in the near term," Moody's added. GM shares were up 19 cents at $21.69 in after-hours trade.