GM’s $15.5bn loss, though certainly dismal, may not be the worst news in the ailing General’s second-quarter earnings report; the company’s North American quarterly revenue was $19.8 billion , down nearly $10 billion compared with the same period a year earlier. Dave Cole, Chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, says revenue is a strong indicator of an automaker’s health because it does not contain any one-time plus or minus items.