GM brings ads back to Los Angeles Times

NEW YORK -- General Motors on Tuesday said it would resume advertising in Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times newspaper after a four-month absence over a coverage dispute.

The world's largest automaker yanked its ads in early April over what it called factual errors and misrepresentations in the Los Angeles Times' editorial coverage of the company.

Industry analysts had expected the boycott would be short-lived as GM faces stiff competition in the large Los Angeles market, and elsewhere, but had warned a protracted dispute could hurt Tribune earnings.

"GM and the Los Angeles Times have had productive discussions regarding our complaints about the newspaper's coverage of GM," said GM spokesman Brian Akre.

Akre said the two sides had "respectfully agreed to disagree" on some issues but would not elaborate on the issues under discussion or how they were resolved.

GM pulled its ads from the paper a day after newspaper auto critic Dan Neil urged the automaker to "dump" Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and called its Pontiac G6 "a sales flop." The company said at the time its decision was not connected to a specific story.

The boycott covered GM corporate and brand advertising, but not to ad space purchased by individual GM car dealers.

Officials at the Los Angeles Times and Tribune were not immediately available for comment.