"There is a danger of a new recession and I see it with concern," Akerson was quoted by the German-language daily as saying.

Global equity markets have been extremely volatile over the past week owing to fears of a double dip recession, driven by the US and eurozone debt crises.

Economic downturns hit automakers hard and Akerson was cautious about the outlook for General Motors, once again the world's biggest automaker ahead of Japan's Toyota.

While GM still expects to sell between 13 and 13.5 million vehicles this year, "we rather expect a value at the lower end of the forecast," he said.

The GM chief insisted meanwhile it would hang on to Opel, its European unit that rumours say might be up for sale.

"Opel gives us a global reach and is not for sale. End of discussion," Akerson said.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011