European Car Sales Rise on Extended Scrappage Schemes
New car sales in Europe rose 3 percent in February to 1 million vehicles due largely to the return of Cash for Clunker-like programs in some countries.
Sales were up double digits in France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain where the programs were in effect. In contrast, sales in Germany fell 30 percent where the scrappage program had expired in late 2009.
A downturn in vehicle sales this year is predicted for Western Europe.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:57 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ex-GM's Stempel: From Gasoline to Batteries to Water
Robert C. Stempel, General Motors' CEO in the early 1990s, is joining the board of directors of Genesis Fluid Solutions Holdings, a water purification company in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Stempel was chosen for the company's board for not his automotive experience but his chairmanship of the Council of Great Lakes Industries. That experience provided him with valuable insight into the complex problems that plague America's largest bodies of water, said Genesis Chairman Michael Hodges in a statement.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:26 AM under GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab: Getting Back to Business
Swedish automaker Saab is showing signs of life.
With its sale by General Motors to Dutch sports-carmaker Spyker complete, Saab now is setting up its North American shop away from GM headquarters, building its management team in Europe and preparing to build and sell cars again.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:33 AM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
AutoObserver Reader Favorites: Honda Odyssey Problems and Toyota
AutoObserver's lead item posted on Wednesday that chronicled Honda Odyssey transmission problems and owners' inconsistent response as discussed on Edmunds.com's forums was the best-read item on the site this week.
And, not surprisingly, items related to Toyota's continued recall and quality woes ranked among AutoObserver's best-read features this week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:00 AM under Analysis , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Incentives Buoy Sales to 12.5 Million SAAR in Early March, Edmunds.com Reports
Hefty incentives offered by Toyota to rejuvenate sales and market share -- and copied by some competitors - sent U.S. industry sales soaring in the early going of March, according to Edmunds.com's forecast.
In the first eight days of March, the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of U.S. sales climbed to 12.5 million units, the highest level since September 2008, excluding August 2009 when Cash for Clunkers was at fever pitch.
"Generous incentives from Toyota and General Motors have stimulated this boom," Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Ray Zhou, PhD. "But we anticipate that it will cool off, and that the month will end closer to 11 million or so."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:43 AM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Whitacre at GM Helm, AT&T Buys Ford Transit Connect Electric Vehicles
AT&T has agreed to buy two of the first electric-powered Ford Transit Connects, despite the 
fact that the company's former CEO, Ed Whitacre, is now CEO of Ford-competitor General Motors and, it was revealed this week, still flies AT&T corporate planes as his retirement perk.
GM, where insiders have criticized the Transit Connect for its raw simplicity, almost crudeness, has nothing to directly compete with Ford's clever compact cargo van. The Transit Connect is carving out a new segment for urban delivery vans and, largely for that reason, was voted by journalists as the 2010 North American Truck of the Year in January.
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GM's Lutz Plans Busy Retirement
So what will the 78-year-old Bob Lutz, who has spent nearly half a century in the auto 
business, do in what he quips is his "early" retirement?
He's got a long to-do list: write, talk, fly, advocate and entertain other options put before him.
Last week's Geneva motor show was abuzz with the rumors that Lutz, who had already announced his retirement from General Motors once, would do it again at any moment.
At the dinner he hosts with media during the show on what turned out to be the eve of the announcement, Lutz dodged the question of when but the conversation clearly sounded like swan song.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:16 AM under GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Powerful Divisional General Managers Are History in New GM Management Restructuring
An executive position at General Motors Co. with a long tradition for power and attracting 
ambitious -- and often quirky -- personalities has been eliminated in the top-to-bottom management restructuring GM unveiled for its four sales divisions last week.
The role of division general manager -- the executive who for decades wielded the almighty last word on everything from marketing to manufacturing -- is gone, the historic position replaced by a structure that assigns sales and marketing functions to separate executives at each of the Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick/GMC divisions.
"It's become extremely clear to me since taking this role that there is a better way to structure this organization," Mark Reuss, GM North America president, said in detailing the new management configuration. "The premise of the structure is simple -- a clearer marketing focus to sell more vehicles, and freeing our sales and service experts to focus on customers and dealers.
"We've worked with a small group of executives to align this model and appoint the best candidates for each job," he added.
Say goodbye to one of the last vestiges of GM's management-style history: the single and all-powerful division general manager.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:40 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cadillac Execs Reportedly Canned; Signs of a "New" GM?
Doubts abound whether a "new General Motors" truly is emerging from the old GM with its 
old, stodgy and coddling culture, but the reported ouster of a trio of marketing executives associated with struggling Cadillac may be a sign that, in fact, the times are a-changing.
Quoting eight unnamed sources familiar with the situation, trade journal Automotive News reported last week that GM had terminated Steve Shannon, John Howell and Jay Spenchian, all associated with Cadillac.
Being fired by the old GM was almost unheard of. One had to be stealing from the company, sexually harassing co-workers or doing something so outrageously obvious that it couldn't be overlooked. Underperforming or playing a key role at an underperforming operation was rarely grounds for dismissal, it seemed.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:14 AM under Commentary , GM , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
AutoObserver Reader Favorites: Toyota Complaints and Sales
Reader traffic on AutoObserver soared this past week, with Toyota stories being the most read.
An Edmunds.com analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) databases that illustrated Toyota's lead in unintended acceleration complaints filed by consumers before and after its recent recalls was this week's most-read post. The post had double the normal traffic of the usual weekly top-read AutoObserver post.
It was followed closely by the Edmunds.com forecast of the impact of Toyota's woes on its February sales and market share.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:46 AM under Analysis , Companies , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Notable Numbers from February Sales
The story that Ford Motor Co. outsold General Motors Co. (by 471 units) for the first month since August, 1998, has made the rounds.
But February's sales charts served up some other noteworthy numbers. Here is a selection:
Ford and GM's totals were No.1 and No. 2 in the market, and figures for the "Big 7" automakers were rounded out, in descending order, by Toyota Motor Sales USA at 100,027; Chrysler Group LLC at 84,449; Honda Motor America at 80,671; Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. at 70,189 and the Hyundai Group (Hyundai and Kia brands combined) at 58,056.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:05 AM under Analysis , Business , Chrysler , Ford , GM , Hyundai, Kia , Mazda , News , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz To Retire May 1
General Motors Co. vice chairman Bob Lutz, the company's energetic and often combative product guru - and long the embodiment of the auto industry's quintessential "car guy" executive - will retire May 1.
The company announced Lutz's retirement today.
The 78-year-old Lutz has had a larger-than-life automotive career that begin in 1963 and included stopovers with significant executive roles at each of the Big Three automakers and BMW AG prior to rejoining GM in 2001.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:50 AM under GM , In the Media , News , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Even Blizzards Can't Obscure This: Ford Tops GM in February Sales
February marked the first month since August, 1998, that Ford Motor Co.'s monthly sales topped those of chief rival General Motors Co., providing an unexpected jolt in a month when the broad industry was handicapped by severe winter weather in the northeast regions of the country - and by the spillover from Toyota's safety-recall debacle.
Total U.S. auto sales for the month were 779,743 units, an increase of about 13.5 percent from year-earlier sales of 687,182, when the American automotive market was at the very bottom of one of its biggest slumps ever. And the February pace represented a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 10.4 million units, a number at the upper middle of most SAAR projections.
"The good underlying news is that the industry hasn't gone into reverse in terms of its recovery," said Jessica Caldwell, senior industry analyst for Edmunds.com.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 5:50 PM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Hyundai, Kia , News , Toyota , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (13) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Reportedly Axes Cadillac Version of Chevy Volt
Several media sources reported late Monday General Motors Co. is dropping plans for a Cadillac-badged version of the high-tech Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle so Cadillac can focus on less-expensive plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles.
Apparently a Cadillac version of the Volt would be too weighed down by the expected luxury and comfort features to replicate the Volt's 40-mile electric-only driving range without extensive extra cost, a Bloomberg report said. Sources suggested achieving even a 20-mile driving range solely on battery power might require $30,000 of added cost, the report added.
The loss of the proposed Cadillac variant of the Volt casts more doubt on the near-term applicability of the Volt's battery-intensive, series-hybrid design.
Some GM executives had argued a Cadillac version of the Volt would help reduce costs -- mostly centered around the expensive lithium-ion batteries -- and speed wider adoption of the Volt's technology.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:03 PM under GM , In the Media , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Another GM Management Shuffle Coming?
General Motors Corp., prodded by impatient chairman and newly named CEO Ed Whitacre to start hiking sales and market share, reportedly is planning a new management restructuring that will place more power with GM North America president Mark Reuss.
Automotive News reports Reuss will take over responsibility for sales from vice president of sales and marketing Susan Docherty, who will continue to head GM's marketing functions.
Each of GM's four remaining sales divisions -- Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC -- will have newly appointed chiefs for both sales and marketing, with divisional sales bosses reporting to Reuss and divisional marketing heads reporting to Docherty.
Currently, division heads are in charge of both functions.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 PM under Business , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Question Congress' Hearings Won't Answer: Are Cars Safe?
Despite all the questions asked during Congressional hearings on Toyota's recalls this week, 
the nagging question that won't -- and maybe can't -- be answered is: are today's cars safe, at least from accelerating of their own volition?
Toyota happened to be the company at the witness table for vehicles that -- for one reason or another, identified or not -- have the possibility of unintended acceleration, potentially endangering not only Toyota drivers but drivers, passengers and pedestrians around them.
Yet, while Toyota is under the microscope and, in fact, has more reported complaints than its competitors, unintended acceleration is an industry-wide problem that requires industry and government attention.
"The current emphasis in the hearings seems to be about who learned about what/when and they are skirting the core issue of what's really causing unintended acceleration in the first place. With this being an industry issue, what's called for is an unprecedented, cross-company and government safety agency collaboration to pool data and resources, getting to the bottom of the problem once and for all," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:46 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
February Sales: Toyota Share Lowest Since 2005; Hyundai, Nissan Share Highest Ever
Despite Toyota's recall woes and snowy weather covering most of the country, February 
vehicle sales will be higher this February than last year's dismal lows and also higher than January's numbers, Edmunds.com forecasts. Still, February sales weren't as strong as many had hoped or expected.
February sales reports from manufacturers, to be posted Tuesday, also will show who made sales and share gains at Toyota's expense. Toyota's sales will be about even with January and down about 10 percent from a year ago. Its market share likely will fall to 12.6 percent, its lowest level since 2005.
In contrast, Hyundai and Nissan will post their highest U.S. market shares ever, Edmunds.com predicts. Ford's share increased, while market share for General Motors and Chrysler dropped.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:34 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Cranks Up Chevy Cruze Production
Optimistic that its upcoming Chevrolet Cruze small car will be a hit, General Motors 
announced Tuesday that it is cranking up production at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant by adding a third shift and hiring 1,200 workers.
The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze goes on sale in the third quarter. The Cruze is the first of a new family of Chevrolet small cars.
"Cruze is a perfect example of how GM's turnaround is focused on the right products at the right time," said GM North America President Mark Reuss at a plant press conference. "This is a global car already kicking goals in 60 international markets. Based on that reaction, we expect the plant will be busy building a hot seller for North America."
(Read more...)
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Spyker Closes Saab Deal with GM
General Motors and Dutch sports car maker Spyker confirmed Tuesday they have finalized the purchase of Saab.
Saab and Spyker will operate under the Spyker umbrella, and Spyker will assume responsibility for Saab operations. The previously announced wind down of Saab operations has ended, GM said in a statement.
This is a great day for Saab employees, dealers and suppliers, and a great day for millions of Saab customers and fans worldwide," said John Smith, GM vice president for corporate planning and alliances.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:33 AM under Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab Nearly a Done Deal; Hummer Sale Collapsing
General Motors sale of Saab to Dutch sportscar maker Spyker is expected to be finalized as early as Tuesday.
Meantime, GM's sale of Hummer to a Chinese company looks to be on the verge of collapse.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:41 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
NHTSA on the Hot Seat: What is Standard Operating Procedure?
At Congressional hearings this week, federal administrators responsible for automotive 
safety will be on the hot seat as much as Toyota executives will be.
Amid accusations of foot dragging and influence pedaling regarding the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Toyota and their handling of consumer complaints and recalls, safety administrators likely will be grilled about what is standard operating procedure in dealing with consumers' complaints. The overriding question at the hearings will be was NHTSA lax in holding Toyota's feet to the fire on vehicle problems.
Edmunds.com's analysis of NHTSA databases reveals little consistency in dealing with consumer complaints. The analysis shows no clear pattern in terms of the number of consumer complaints that trigger an agency investigation. The length of time it takes from an investigation to a recall being issued varies widely.
Whether NHTSA's process works properly and quickly enough and whether it is transparent enough is highly questionable. Ultimately, this week's Congressional hearings may be as revealing in uncovering defects at NHTSA as defects in Toyotas.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:10 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM , Toyota | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Crash Course Covers Bailouts and Bankruptcies
The book, "Crash Course," by veteran automotive journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winner 
Paul Ingrassia is the first book about last year's bailouts and bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler. While the book, which was published this month by Random House, focuses on the dramatic events of 2009, it covers the history of the American auto industry from the Model T onward. This excerpt from the opening chapter, published courtesy of Random House, begins in the bleak final months of 2008; it summarizes the mounting crisis and how Ford avoided the fate of its Detroit competitors.
It really wasn't intended to be a prophecy. It was just a smart-alecky tee-shirt worn for years by local teen-agers to annoy their parents, and show their perverse pride in the Motor City's tough-town image. It said: DETROIT: WHERE THE WEAK ARE KILLED AND EATEN. But the menacing message seemed all too appropriate in the bleak winter of 2008-2009, when signs of weakness -- indeed, desperation -- erupted everywhere in Detroit.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:52 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Set to Overtake Beleaguered Toyota in 2010, Edmunds.com Predicts
Toyota's mounting product quality and public image woes have prompted Edmunds.com to 
revamp its sales forecast for 2010, lowering Toyota's share and raising the share of other automakers.
Edmunds.com's most current forecast of 11.5 million vehicle sales for 2010 has Toyota losing market share that will be picked up by Ford, General Motors and Honda.
Ford's sales gain, in fact, likely will push the American automaker to the No. 2 sales spot in 
the United States, ahead of Toyota, Edmunds.com predicts. Toyota took the No. 2 position from Ford in 2007 and has held it ever since.
"It now seems clear that Ford will overtake Toyota to reclaim its position as the second biggest automaker in the U.S. market," Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell said at the Chicago auto show.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:32 AM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (9) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chicago Auto Show's Mission: Stoke Patchy Consumer Interest
After a January of piddly auto sales propped up mainly by fleet buyers didn't deliver any 
momentum from December's strong selling, slightly nervous automakers hoping 2010 will be a solid rebound year are looking to the Chicago auto show -- said to still be the nation's leading show in terms of bringing patrons through the turnstiles -- to stoke up winter interest.
Nobody's expecting any blowout introductions, but the Chicago show's slate of new-vehicle intros runs a wide gamut. Unveilings begin Wednesday, the first press day.
Most titillating for industry watchers is Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s late-in-the-game decision to return to the Chicago show. Nissan skipped the Detroit and Chicago auto shows in 2009 and came up missing again at the Detroit show last month.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:45 AM under Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
January Sales: Automakers Joust for New Sales Slots
January car sales had automakers jousting for new positions in the sales rankings.
General Motors retained its No. 1 sales spot. But Toyota's recall and stop-sale order on eight of its best-selling models caused the Japanese automaker to slip to No. 3, behind Ford.
Ford had lost the No. 2 sales spot to Toyota in 2007 and has been fighting to win it back. It closed 2009 by slashing in half the gap with Toyota. This could be the year with Ford gaining momentum and Toyota in reverse with its quality woes.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:13 AM under Chrysler , Companies , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
January Whacks Toyota, But Sales Firm for Other Makers
The U.S. auto market in January continued its recent strengthening trend, with overall sales just shy of 700,000 vehicles (698,456 vehicles) for the month rising by nearly 7 percent compared with 654,757 vehicles in a very weak January 2009. The seasonally adjusted light-vehicle sales rate ticked up to about 10.76 million units versus last year's 9.59 million - and roughly in line with the firming picture of recent months.
Toyota was clearly the biggest loser in January due to its recalls and stop-sales order on eight of its bestsellers. Yet, January's results varied widely for its top competitors that may have tried to take advantage of Toyota's problems with special incentives meant to lure disaffected Toyota customers in particular.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:17 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Toyota-Fighting Promotions, January Incentives Dip, Edmunds.com Reports
Incentives paid by manufacturers in January dipped below year-ago and December levels despite last-minute promotions by Toyota's competitors to capitalize on the automaker's recall woes.
The average incentive was $2,382 per vehicle sold in January 2010, down $160, or 6.3 percent, from December 2009, and down $326, or 12.0 percent, from January 2009, Edmunds.com estimates.
"January incentives were not particularly generous or compelling - until some automakers began trying to conquest unsettled Toyota owners and shoppers late in the month," stated Jessica Caldwell, director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com. "January sales numbers are up from a year ago largely because of fleet sales."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:41 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Sales Socked with 75-Percent Drop, Edmunds.com Forecasts
Toyota-brand sales will drop 75 percent during the sales suspension of its eight best-selling models and some potential Lexus and Scion sales will be collateral damage.
"As long as sales of recalled Toyota models are suspended, Toyota will suffer about a 75 percent hit in sales," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Ray Zhou, PhD.
Even though no Lexus of Scion models are covered under the sticky gas pedal recall and sales suspension, their sales may be down as well.
"During this period, Scion may be down about 20 percent and Lexus may be down about 10 percent because of damage to the Toyota corporate brand," added Zhou.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:55 PM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
January Car Sales: Toyota Share Plummets to Lowest Since 2006
Toyota's market share in January is expected to plummet to lows not seen since 2006, because the automaker issued a stop-selling order on eight models representing more than half of the automaker's U.S. sales this week.
Toyota's share is likely to drop to 14.7 percent of U.S. sales in January, Edmunds.com forecasts; the last time it was that low was March 2006 when its share was 14.2 percent.
In contrast, Ford is expected to have its best month for market share since May 2006. Edmunds.com forecasts Ford's share at 18.0 percent in January. The last time it was that high was in May 2006 at 18.4 percent.
In total, U.S. sales in January, buoyed by hefty hikes in fleet sales and offset by lower retail sales, will total of 701,000 vehicles, according to Edmunds.com's forecast. That would put the Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of car sales at 10.7 million vehicles, down from 11.2 million December but up from 9.6 million in January 2009.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:57 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Sells Sweden's Saab to Spyker Cars
General Motors and Spyker Cars confirmed Tuesday that GM has agreed to sell Swedish automaker Saab to the Dutch sports car maker.
"Today's announcement is great news for Saab employees, dealers and suppliers, great news for millions of Saab customers and fans worldwide, and great news for GM," said John Smith, GM vice president for corporate planning and alliances, who will hold a press conference later in the day.
Spyker told Bloomberg News it has agreed to pay $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred shares in the new company that would emerge from the deal, to be called Saab Spyker Automobiles, which will carry the Saab brand forward. The sale is subject to Sweden agreeing to guarantee a 400 million-euro ($563 million) European Investment Bank loan for Saab.
The sale is expected to close in February and Saab will exit an orderly wind-down process in line with the timetable, the Dutch company said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:30 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM to Develop, Build Electric Motors
General Motors Co. announced Tuesday it will enhance its ability to develop and build future 
electric vehicles by designing and producing its own electric traction motors, effectively the "engines" that propel fully electric vehicles.
GM says the decision to design and manufacture its own traction motors makes it the first domestic automaker to make the commitment to in-house development. The company says it is investing $246 million in electric motor and electric drive facilities in the U.S.
Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, global product operations, said in a media event with reporters the company believes committing to developing its own traction motors will save money, improve performance and allow better optimization of the entire electric drivetrain.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:30 AM under GM , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Says No Deal With Spyker for Saab Yet
General Motors Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre said at a Monday morning press conference that the automaker has no announcement regarding Saab despite media reports swirling around the globe that a deal to sell the Swedish automaker to Spyker is imminent.
"As of today, we have not changed our direction on the wind-down (of Saab)," Whitacre told reporters in Detroit. "There have been advanced talks but we do not have a deal to announce this morning. If and when that changes, we'll let you know. And that's my only comment on that issue."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:20 AM under Business , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre Stays on as CEO To Create Stability
General Motors Chairman Ed Whitacre announced Monday morning that he will stay on as 
permanent CEO at the request of the automaker's board of directors. Whitacre said the board called off a search as it looked to create a stable situation at the company that went into and out of bankruptcy and has had a series of CEOs in the past year.
"The board asked me at a special meeting last week if I would be willing to stay on," Whitacre said at a press conference Monday. "I'm honored and pleased to accept this role. It's a great company with a terrific future, and I'd like to be part of it."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:39 AM under Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Sports Cars Grab Attention of AutoObserver Readers
The best-read post on AutoObserver this week - by a long shot - was an item on Chevrolet
Corvette sales plummeting to a 50-year low in 2009.
As sports car sales in general nosedived, Chevrolet sold only 13,934 Corvettes, the worst sales for the nameplate since 1961 when the car was still in its first generation.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:55 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Prices Buick Regal; Losing Money on Every One?
General Motors announced an attractive price on its 2011 Buick Regal, which is generating a lot of positive buzz. But the automaker likely will lose money or at least not make much on every one it sells in the early going.
The Regal, which begins arriving in dealerships in spring, will start at just under $27,000. But pricing the Regal was tricky business.
The new Regal is based on the German-made Opel Insignia, and the earliest versions to be sold in the U.S. will be made in Europe. That means the dollar-euro exchange rate is highly unfavorable. The situation changes in the first quarter of 2011 when Regal production shifts from Russelsheim, Germany, to GM's plant in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:43 AM under Analysis , Business , GM | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Starts Opel Restructuring with Closure of Belgian Plant
General Motors' restructuring of its Opel operations in Europe have begun with Thursday's 
announcement that the automaker - as expected - will close an assembly plant in Antwerp, Belgium, mid-2010, eliminating 2,600 jobs.
The Belgian plant builds the Opel Astra, which had been sold in the U.S. as the Saturn Astra before the Saturn brand was eliminated. The plant was selected because Astra and other models it assembles are made elsewhere so capacity shifts can be easily accomplished, Opel CEO Nick Reilly said in a news conference in Brussels.
"The decision to announce this today, was not taken lightly; instead, it is the unfortunate result of the current business reality," Reilly said. "We must make this announcement now so that we can secure a viable future for the entire Opel and Vauxhall operations."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:09 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM-Style Bankruptcy Sought for Japan Airlines
If it works for General Motors, why not Japan Airlines?
U.S. bankruptcy experts insisted last summer that new laws were being written during government-backed "quick rinse" Chapter 11 proceedings of GM and Chrysler. Now international companies were looking to those bankruptcies as the way to get the job done.
Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) filed for bankruptcy - Japan's sixth-largest bankruptcy ever - this week. Analysts are looking at GM's bankruptcy to determine how much JAL's investors will be re-paid. Based on the GM scenario, they expect JAL investors to recover 20 to 25 percent of their investment.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:46 AM under Chrysler , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Housing Data Mixed; What Will Truck Sales Do?
Housing starts fell more than anticipated in December, but building permits unexpectedly 
jumped, in the Commerce Department's latest report.
So what lies ahead for sales of all-important full-size pickup trucks in the future?
Automaker are holding out hope for an improved 2010. Housing starts are the single most important indicator for truck sales in the U.S.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:43 AM under Ford , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Sticks with Vancouver Olympics Sponsorship
Despite going through bankruptcy last summer, General Motors is upholding its commitment 
to be one of the prime sponsors of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
GM, Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Co. are among corporate and government sponsors reportedly paying more than $760 million (Canadian) in total to be associated with the games. Organizers are looking to sign one more major sponsor before the games begin next month.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:39 AM under GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Talks Concessions for Reacquired Former Delphi Plants
Even as it talks of the need to ramp up production at several U.S. assembly plants, General Motors Corp. is sending another message to the handful of former Delphi Inc. plants it "reacquired" as part of Delphi's departure from bankruptcy: costs have to be reduced.
The Detroit News reports today GM is seeking wage concessions from the United Auto Workers union workers who staff the components plants. The gambit likely was inevitable: GM spent billions to purchase the plants when Delphi exited its protracted bankruptcy late last year in order to assure the orderly delivery of vital parts - but GM reportedly is seeking to sell many, if not all of the facilities. The company already announced earlier this month it is selling the Nexsteer steering-components plant in Saginaw, MI.
The report that GM wants to reduce labor costs hardly is a surprise, then, as it brings these plants - and the thinking that originally created Delphi - full circle.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:17 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Detroit Auto Show: Eleven Vehicles That Matter - Or Don't
The 2010 North American International Auto Show is one of the most restrained editions of 
the Detroit confab many can remember.
But the show's comparative scarcity of high-impact concept and production vehicles didn't stem the avalanche of opinion on the most notable vehicles.
After scores of media outlets have weighed in, AutoObserver cuts through the clutter to give the real score on the 10 most significant - for better or worse - vehicles of the 2010 Detroit auto show.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:31 PM under Analysis , Business , Commentary , Companies , Ford , GM , Toyota , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Corvette Drops to 50-Year Sales Low as High-End Sports Cars Sputter
When automakers revealed 2009 full-year sales on January 4, data analysts from 
Edmunds.com unearthed a remarkable fact: sales of General Motor Co.'s seminal Chevrolet Corvette sports car fell to a low not seen in almost 50 years.
The Corvette's 13,934 sales were the worst for the nameplate since 1961, when Chevrolet sold 10,939 models - and the car was still in its first generation.
As recently as 2006, Chevrolet sold more than two-and-a-half times as many Corvettes -- 36,518 -- as it did last year, as sales for almost all premium sports cars were pummeled.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:12 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
Makers Cautious as Subdued Detroit Show Starts Pivotal New Year
Most of the energy at this week's Detroit auto show epicentered at Ford Motor Co.'s display, 
with eddies splashing out to General Motors Corp.'s guardedly optimistic stand and Audi AG's gleaming base of operations.
But the majority of automakers were laying low, and media crowds were visibly reduced at the show with a reputation for over-the-top product introductions and boastful talk about the coming year.
There was no avoiding the 2010 Detroit auto show's subdued and geared-down mood, fashioned from the collective attitude of automakers licking their wounds and hoping the worst is past.
It also was yet another evolution of the show itself: there was plenty of room thanks to fewer automakers opting to display and fewer journalists opting (or fewer existing) to attend. A surprisingly expansive area of main-floor real estate was occupied by seemingly inappropriate electric vehicles of all manner, few of them of the road-going passenger variety.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:49 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Sweeps Car and Truck of the Year Awards
The Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Ford Transit Connect won the 2010 North American Car and 
Truck of the Year awards, it was announced Monday morning at the Detroit auto show.
The Fusion Hybrid won over two other finalists for the prestigious award -- the Buick LaCrosse and Volkswagen Golf. The Transit Connect beat out the Chevrolet Equinox and Subaru Outback.
"Winning both of these prestigious awards is confirmation that the One Ford plan is working, delivering industry-leading product for our customers," said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:38 AM under Featured , Ford , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
What We'll See at the Detroit Auto Show - And What We'd Like To See
Thanks to the beat-down 2009 threw on almost every automaker, the 2010 installment of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week isn't expected to be one of the more ebullient in the storied show's history.
Most makers are laying low. And that's the ones who are even coming. Like last year, many automakers are taking a pass: Nissan and Porsche, for instance.
Many makers let the hometown companies make the biggest splashes, but Chrysler, for one, is displaying vehicles but having no press conference (our hopes remain Chrysler will import some Italian food to feed the media masses).
You can get a rundown of what will be displayed at the Detroit show at Edmunds.com's Inside Line. But we're adding a new twist: in addition to a scorecard of what some automakers are showing at the Detroit auto show, AutoObserver is adding what each automaker ought to be showing.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:31 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab Fate Revealed Soon?
General Motors confirmed Friday morning that it is moving ahead with the wind down of its 
Saab division, despite 11th-hour bids from interested buyers.
GM said it had selected AlixPartners "to supervise the orderly wind down of Saab, and has requested approval of the selection by the appropriate authority in Sweden." AlixPartners is the same company GM has employed to wind down its other discontinued divisions, Pontiac and Saturn, and to rid the old GM of unwanted assets.
GM also confirmed that it has received several proposals for Saab and is continuing to evaluate these proposals.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:35 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre Sees Chance for 2010 Profit, Little Hope for Saab
General Motors Chairman and Interim CEO Ed Whitacre said the automaker has a shot at earning a profit in 2010, but he sees little hope to a rescue of Saab.
In a wide-ranging conversation with media in Detroit on Wednesday, Whitacre said GM's top priority to is earn a profit so that it can pay back its government loans and become a public company again. Going public wouldn't happen earlier than late this year, however.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:18 PM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz Details Automaker's 2010 To-Do List
General Motors' Bob Lutz, in an editorial on AutoObserver's sister site, Edmunds' Inside Line,
lays out the automaker's 2010 to-do list.
Top to bottom of the list is a focus on product.
"GM builds cars and trucks and crossovers. That is what we do," writes Lutz. "In 2009, we were given an opportunity to continue doing so, and we must not squander that opportunity.
"Therefore," adds Lutz, "we are resolved, if you will, not to lose sight of the fact that if we don't build the best cars, trucks and crossovers on the planet, that opportunity will go for naught."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:53 PM under Commentary , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saturns, Pontiacs Nearly Nonexistent
Only a couple thousand Saturn and Pontiac vehicles remain in 
General Motors' inventory as the two brands are discontinued.
GM's top sales executive, Susan Docherty, told reporters and analysts in the automaker's sales call Tuesday that only 796 Pontiacs and 916 Saturns remain in inventory.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:47 AM under GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ford Mustang Wins Pony Sales Race
The Ford Mustang, thanks to a December sprint to the finish, won the pony car sales race 
over the Chevrolet Camaro.
And it wasn't as close as anticipated.
Ford Mustang sales came in at 66,623 vehicles; General Motors sold 61,648 Chevrolet Camaros. The Camaro went on sale in March so did not have a full year of sales.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:23 AM under Analysis , Ford , GM | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Auto Industry Believes 2009 Close Bodes Well for 2010
Some day, automakers hope to look back on 2009 as the year that both sales and corporate fortunes finally bottomed out. It's far too early to tell if history will treat last year that way, but for now, at least, the industry is taking heart from a definite surge of sales momentum as the decade closed.
Automakers sold about 10.4 million units last year, a disastrous tally that comprised the lowest total of light-vehicle sales in this country since 1970.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:38 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Ford Pony Cars Gallop to Photo Finish
The winner of the sales race between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang will be 
revealed when the auto industry reports sales Tuesday. And the finish will be a close one.
General Motors already is hailing a victory, announcing the Camaro will win. And, based on Edmunds.com estimates, it's possible even though at the end of November Mustang was ahead.
"It looks feasible that the Camaro could outsell Mustang," said Edmunds.com Analyst Ivan Drury. "The two will be only a thousand or two thousand units apart when final sales are reported."
Still, through the end of the November, the Mustang was ahead.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:53 AM under Analysis , Ford , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Year-End Blitz, Incentives Costs Dip, Edmunds.com Reports
Despite the year-end incentives blitz and holiday marketing campaigns, automakers actually spent less on incentives in December than they did a year ago or even in November.
Edmunds.com estimates the average automotive manufacturer incentive was $2,542 per vehicle sold in December, down $167, or 6.2 percent, from November, and down $320, or 11.2 percent, from December 2008.
"In December, only about a quarter of new cars sold were leftover 2009 models. That sent the average incentive expenditure lower compared to November and last December when the old model-year vehicles made up closer to half of the new car sales," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com's director of Industry Analysis.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:33 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Apple COO Rumored To Be Top Pick for GM CEO Job
The speculation on who will become the next chief executive officer of General Motors has 
begun with the latest rumor putting Apple COO Tim Cook at the top of the list for the job.
Cook, who took the reins of Apple when CEO Steve Jobs was on medical leave, is the first choice of GM's executive search firm Spencer Stuart for the top post at General Motors, an anonymous reader of The Business Insider's Silicon Valley Insider told the blog.
"We have no idea whether this is true or not, but it makes sense," wrote Senior Editor Nicholas Carlson, the December 31, 2009 post.
A GM spokesman said the automaker had no comment on the rumor.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:04 AM under Business , GM , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab Suitor Seeks To Leverage Existing New-Model Investment
The Netherlands' Spyker Cars, the small exotic-car maker cajoling General Motors Co. to 
allow it to purchase GM's failing Saab Automobile AB unit, would at the beginning set its sights on nothing more radical that selling the two wholly new products in Saab's pipeline that are ready to go, according to a report over the weekend from AOL Autos.
After setting an end-of-2009 deadline to complete a viable deal to sell Saab, GM extended the cut-off date to this Thursday as the two companies try to hammer out an agreement the Swedish government also would like to see happen in order to save thousands of jobs in Saab's hometown of Trollhattan. The town also is the site of Saab's "home" assembly plant, where the 9-5 is slated to begin production.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:07 AM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Car Sales Surged at December's End, Edmunds.com Reports
Car shopping on Edmunds.com surged in the waning days of December, prompting the Web site to suggest sales for the month may come in higher than previously expected -- and could be the highest non Cash for Clunker month of the year.
"The industry potentially could reach a seasonal sales rate of 11.7 million vehicles in December, given the current site traffic trend," noted Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell.
"Our Web site activity is through the roof," added Caldwell. "That makes sense as there are so many bargain-hunters scrambling to get year-end deals and cash in on the sales tax deduction opportunity that expires on December 31st."
An improving economy likely has helped as well. Edmunds.com Web activity in late December is 60 percent higher than the historical pattern for the period. Brands enjoying particularly strong activity are BMW, Ford, Honda and General Motors' Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn brands.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:48 AM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , GM | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Government To Give GMAC Another $3.5 billion in Aid
GMAC Financial Services, which provides vehicle loans to General Motors and Chrysler dealers and customers, reportedly is close to receiving $3.5 billion in additional aid from the U.S. government, on top of the $12.5 billion already received since December 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The new capital likely will go its ailing mortgage business, not its car-loan business, the paper said.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:27 AM under Business , Chrysler , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
This GM "Fire Sale" No Hotter Than Current One
General Motors' convoluted $7,000-incentive offer to dealers to put remaining Pontiac and Saturn vehicles into their fleets and then sell them as used vehicles was described by the media as a fire sale. But Edmunds.com's analysis shows the so-called fire sale is no hotter than the prices currently being offered.
GM already has been offering incentives valued at up to $6,500 on Saturns and Pontiacs, including the always attractive zero-percent financing for up to 72 months, according to Edmunds.com calculations. In addition, consumers are allowed to write-off the sales tax on their new vehicle purchase now.
"The newest program is more hype than substance," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:01 PM under Analysis , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Clean Up on Pontiac, Saturn Aisles!
General Motors Co., in an effort to clear the decks for the new year, is offering hefty 
incentives to dealers to sell thousands of vehicles from its discontinued Saturn and Pontiac brands.
In a December 23 letter to dealers, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, GM said it would pay dealers $7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac that it moves to a rental-car or service-vehicle fleet operated by the dealer and then sells as a used vehicle to a customer. The offer expires January 4.
There's no guarantee the $7,000 will go from the dealer to the customer. However, a dealer can use some or all of the cash to make the deal more attractive to the customer. In the case of Pontiac's cheapest vehicle, the G3, that would mean almost half off if the dealer passed along all of the incentive.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:30 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Best and Worst Ideas of 2009
Desperate times require desperate measures, as the saying goes, and 2009 was about as 
desperate as it gets in the auto industry.
Companies sometimes do the most interesting things when they're desperate -- and that maxim seems particularly relevant to auto companies. Because their products are so visible, with such potential emotional impact. Because their executives and designers and engineers are in charge of the process that creates those products.
Desperation in 2009 -- as defined by coming up some 6 million sales short of the industry's glory days of just three years ago -- generated products and strategies that ran the gamut from ridiculous to sublime. Some ideas were inspired; some were just tired.
Here are a few of the best and worst ideas from the auto industry in 2009:
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:22 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Euro View on the Decade
We know our U.S.-oriented prism is limiting so we turned to Europe's Just-Auto.com for its view on the decade.
With the Just-Auto's blessing, we excerpt here Dave Leggett's take on the Top 10 things - people, events and trends that shaped the automotive decade.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:38 AM under Commentary , Companies , Ford , GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Decade's Winners and Losers: The Data
Not only is 2009, one of the single most tumultuous years for the auto industry, drawing to a 
close, but so is the first decade of a new century.
As the year winds down, data analysts at Edmunds.com are cranking away at numbers that are certain not only to entertain but also demonstrate how cataclysmic 2009 turned out to be, particularly viewed through the prism of a closing decade's worth of sales-performance trends: market share destroyed, market share gained. Years of growth turned upside down. Surprising sales-volume gains, foreboding losses.
The ever-present import-versus-domestic battle in almost startling perspective.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:05 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
AutoObserver Readers Closely Follow Tumult of 2009 Auto Industry
In what will go down in history as the auto industry's most tumultuous year in recent 
memory, AutoObserver readers couldn't get enough information about what was happening in the industry and how automakers and the government reacted.
Edmunds.com's forecasts for sales and analysis of sales and trends rated high among AutoObserver's 25 best-read posts for 2009.
High on that list were posts about how automakers reacted in terms of closing plants, shuttering brands, particularly General Motors' Saturn and Pontiac, terminating dealers and setting vehicle prices and incentives.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:42 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
The Auto Industry 2009 Wrapup: Apocalypse Now
The best thing that might be said about the year the auto industry - and an economically 
battered nation - is preparing to close: it probably can't get any worse.
The year 2009 brought two high-profile bankruptcies, billions of dollars in government bailouts and funding for Cash for Clunkers and thousands of lost jobs. Similar upheaval - though not as catastrophic as predicted - came to the tightly integrated supplier industry. Several historic brands were relegated to the archives.
And those are just the major stories.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:57 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Hires CFO from Microsoft
General Motors announced Monday it has hired as its new CFO Chris Liddell, most recently 
CFO for Microsoft Corp.
"Chris brings a depth and experience to this job that were unmatched in our search for a new financial leader," Ed Whitacre, GM chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
"Chris will lead our financial and accounting operations on a global basis and will report directly to me," Whitacre added. We're also looking to his experience and insights in corporate strategy as a member of the senior leadership team in helping our restructuring efforts."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:09 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Los Angeles Auto Show Vehicles Generate Edmunds.com Buzz
Five new models displayed at the recently wrapped-up Los Angeles auto show are generating tremendous buzz on Edmunds.com. The five most talked-about vehicles are the Buick Regal, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Sienna and Cadillac CTS coupe.
Here's what readers have to say:
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:43 AM under Analysis , Commentary , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Mum on New Offers for Saab
General Motors confirmed Sunday it has received "inquiries from several parties" for Saab, after the automaker announced Friday a deal with Dutch sports car maker Spyker to buy the Swedish brand collapsed. However, GM is not identifying new bidders nor is it commenting on any of the new offers, which include a new one from Spyker.
"We will not comment further until these evaluations have been completed," GM said in a terse statement.
Spyker confirmed over the weekend that it has presented GM with a new offer - one that expires Monday night.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:12 AM under Companies , Featured , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Could New Saab Models See the Light of Day?
At last fall's Frankfurt auto show and at the Miami auto show shortly after, Saab's flagship 9- 5, completely redesigned and ready for launch in 2010, made its debut.
Saab executives billed the launch of the 9-5 as the kick-off of a new era for the Swedish brand. Over the next 16 months, Saab said it would introduce four new models - the redesigned Sweden-built 9-5 sedan and SportCombi wagon along with the the all-wheel-drive 9-3X and the compact 9-4X luxury crossover.
Instead, on Friday, General Motors announced that plans to sell Saab to a new owner had failed, and it would wind-down the brand.
But could those new Saab models show up elsewhere? It's possible, a GM executive said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:12 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Sale of Saab Fails; Swedish Brand to Die
General Motors announced Friday its planned sale of Saab has failed, and the Saab brand will be eliminated, resulting in the loss of 3,400 jobs and 1,100 dealers globally.
After Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB last month withdrew from negotiations for Saab, GM took up discussions with Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars. The deal, which failed Friday morning, was considered a long-shot due to the short timeframe to close the deal -- GM set a Dec. 31 deadline. In addition, Spyker is a small and unprofitable company, plus financing in any deal is challenging in these times.
"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution," said GM Europe President Nick Reilly.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:58 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
This Week's AutoObserver Reader Favorites: GM Plans; Award Finalists; VW-Suzuki
Not surprisingly, this week's favorite post by AutoObserver readers was our coverage of 
General Motors Chairman and Interim CEO Ed Whitacre's outline for the automaker's short-term game plan.
The former AT&T CEO held his first media roundtable since adding the CEO title two weeks after the ouster of Fritz Henderson.
At the press briefing, Whitacre said GM's priorities are paying back $6.7 billion in government loans by June and selling more cars and generating more revenue. He also called GM's sale of Saab to Dutch sports car maker Spyker is "possible" by year-end, but, if not, Saab would be eliminated.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:07 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Ford , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Trucks Deemphasized in Chevy's New Direction
Chevrolet's "Like A Rock" trucks and SUVS may be gathering a little moss in the coming 
years as General Motors Co.'s most important division shifts gears to concentrate on cars and crossovers, said new Chevrolet general manager Jim Campbell at a media event in Detroit Wednesday.
Noting that many would be surprised to know the now fully global Chevy sells 61 percent of its volume outside the U.S., Campbell said the home turf will be where the action is in the coming years.
"Chevrolet's biggest growth opportunity is right here in our own country," Campbell said, adding that new expansion will come "on the back of cars and crossovers."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:39 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre Outlines Automaker's Short-Term Game Plan
In his first media roundtable since adding CEO to his title only 14 days ago, General Motors Chairman Ed Whitacre said: the automaker would pay back $6.7 billion in government loans by June; selling more cars and generating revenue are GM's top priorities; and a sale of Sweden's Saab to Dutch sportsmaker Spyker is "possible."
Whitacre, the retired CEO of AT&T who became GM chairman at the request of President Obama's automotive task force following GM's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 10, said GM will make a $1.2 billion payment on the loan it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) this month.
GM then intends to make quarterly payments until June 2010 when it will pay in full the $6.7 billion in TARP funds it owes. At the same time, GM will make payments on its loans from the Ontario and Canadian governments.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:11 AM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
What Vehicles at LA Show Will Win in the Market?
With the doors closed last weekend on the 2009 Los Angeles auto show, the vehicles that premiered there will soon be arriving in dealer showrooms. What ones will sell in the marketplace?
To answer that question, AutoObserver watched the behavior of Edmunds.com visitors who came to the car-shopping Web site for vehicle information and turned to Edmunds.com staffers who covered the show.
Edmunds.com visitors appeared most interested in the Buick Regal, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda 2 and Toyota Sienna, with those vehicles seeing the biggest rise in shopping consideration.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:54 AM under Analysis , Commentary , Featured , GM , Hyundai, Kia , Mazda , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Close to Hiring New CFO; Current CFO Young Moved to International Ops
Clearing the path for the arrival of a new CFO, General Motors announced Monday morning 
its current CFO Ray G. Young has been named vice president of GM's international operations, a newly created post.
President Obama's automotive task force, and particularly its member Steve Rattner, took GM to task for its poor financial management. As a result, GM launched a search for a new CFO. Ed Whitacre, GM chairman and interim CEO, said in a Web chat last week that a new CFO was close to being appointed.
GM said Young will remain as CFO until that replacement is named, likely by Feb. 1.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:50 AM under GM , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Beijing Automotive Buys Some Saab Assets
General Motors confirmed Monday morning it had reached an agreement with Beijing 
Automotive Industry Holdings Co., Ltd. to sell some Saab assets to the Chinese automaker.
Meantime, talks with potential bidders to buy the rest of the Swedish automaker continue. The deal with BAIC could improve GM's prospects for finding a buyer for Saab, though Saab's survival remains questionable.
"This arrangement (with BAIC) is excellent for both parties, now and for the future," Jan Anke Jonsson, Saab Automobile managing director, said in a statement. "We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles."
No financial details were revealed.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:05 AM under Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM North America Boss Tightening Up the Team
In webchat with a "consumer" audience that seemingly was populated by plenty of industry-savvy questioners, new General Motors Co. North America president Mark Reuss said Friday one of his first initiatives since assuming his new role early this month will be to streamline some of the corporate structure.
Reuss said his planned new system comprises just five direct reports that are "laser focused" on sales, marketing, manufacturing, Canada/Mexico and GM's OnStar telematics-service unit. He said recently-resigned CEO Fritz Henderson "had a lot more to do," inferring that the reporting to Reuss can be simplified because of the different duties of CEO and North American president positions.
Reuss also insinuated he will be working to solidify the ties between GM's North American engineering activities and its Adam Opel AG European Operations. After a lengthy period in which GM made preparations to sell off Opel, the company's board decided to retain the division. Now, Reuss said, he plans to leverage the engineering and product-development experience at Opel to the benefit of all GM vehicles.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:30 PM under Business , Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Broke It Off With Tiger Woods Even Before it Became Fashionable
The personal and business fallout for his "indiscretions" continues for professional golfer Tiger Woods, as a variety of companies and organizations do the damage-control two-step to the certain detriment of "Woods Inc.'s" bottom line.
But at least one former corporate sponsor managed to avoid having to be in the position of judging Woods as his personal life becomes a tabloid bonanza: General Motors Co. Owing to its shaky finances, GM had to cut loose Woods and his big-bucks contract nearly a year ago.
For the nine years prior to parting ways with Woods at the end of 2008, GM reportedly had paid the golfing phenom a heady $8 million per year to be a spokesman for the Buick brand. That had to stop -- leading up to its federal bailout and eventual bankruptcy, GM jettisoned everything with the appearance of extravagance, from corporate jets to corporate golf spokesmen.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 AM under Business , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Boss, Another GM "Lifer," To Retire
General Motors Co.'s crucial Chevrolet division has a new general manager as yet another long-serving executive is leaving GM.
The company announced late Wednesday that Brent Dewar, 31-year GM veteran and vice president, global Chevrolet, will retire effective April 1, 2010. Taking over immediately as Chevrolet general manager is 45-year-old James M. Campbell, who had been in charge of GM's Fleet and Commercial Operations.
Since GM emerged from bankruptcy in mid-July, chairman Ed Whitacre has emphasized GM is striving for younger faces and fresher thinking -- not to mention fresh blood from outside -- to reinvigorate GM's hidebound executive culture.
Chevrolet's new general manager is appropriately young, perhaps, but is no newbie at GM, having been with the company since 1988.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:19 PM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Former Saturn Boss Heads to Smart USA
Penske Automotive Group Inc. said Tuesday Jill Lajdziak, former general manager at General
Motors Co.'s now-disbanded Saturn division, is joining Penske's Smart USA Distributor LLC unit as vice president, sales and marketing.
Lajdziak's appointment seems a strategy to address the startling drop-off of Smart car sales after the brand's second year on the market. Currently the brand's only model for sale in the U.S. is the two-seat Fortwo city car, sold exclusively by Penske at 79 Smart "retail centers."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:00 PM under Companies , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre Web Chats With Media, Keeps It Light
General Motors Co. chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre conducted a Web chat with 
automotive media Tuesday and the most that can be said is he obviously takes seriously the light connotation behind the term "chat." Although fielding several questions, Whitacre industriously said almost nothing of substance.
The media left the Web chat session with little more than the last time it met with Whitacre face-to-face, when he refused to answer questions following his announcement of CEO Fritz Henderson's resignation last week.
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Latest GM Shakeout Possible Precursor to Lutz Departure
Since 2001, Bob Lutz has been the North Star for everyone who cares about the product at General Motors Co.
But the GM executive firmament is rapidly evolving thanks to a Big Bang orchestrated by chairman and temp-CEO Ed Whitacre, one that likely will lead to Lutz's departure sooner than later, some GM insiders believe.
The de-emphasis of vice chairman Lutz's role (although not title) to "advisor" on global product development and design could be the result of persistent rumors there's not enough room in a room for both Lutz's and Whitacre's egos.
Or it could be just what it appears: at 77, Lutz is a highly visible contradiction to everything Whitacre -- and the government-dominated GM board of directors -- professes needs to change with GM's moribund "lifer" executive culture: that GM management is dominated by executives who are too old or have been at GM too long. Or both.
(Read more...)
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Time Running Out for Saab
Reports from Europe late on Monday indicate General Motors Co. and China's Beijing 
Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) may be edging closer to a deal that will transfer some of Saab's hard assets to BAIC -- but also appears to set the stage for GM to liquidate the Saab brand.
Reuters reported GM was talking with BAIC about a deal to sell existing tooling for the Saab 9-3 and 9-5, both of which were due to be replaced by new-generation models based on GM architectures. Saab had already unveiled the 9-5 at this year's Frankfurt motor show and its launch was ready.
(Read more...)
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GM Invests $336 Million in Chevrolet Volt Factory
General Motors announced Monday that it will invest $336 million in the Detroit-Hamtramck 
assembly plant to begin production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car in 2010.
GM said that brings its total Volt-related investments in Michigan to $700 million, covering eight facilities.
"We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car, Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning, told the company and government officials gathered at the plant Monday.
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Suzuki Reportedly in VW's Hands by Year-End
Maybe tiny Suzuki Motor Corp. no longer has to be concerned that sales for its American 
Suzuki Motor Corp. unit have been evaporating towards near-nonexistence: information from Europe says the burgeoning Volkswagen Group has plans to take over Suzuki by the end of the year.
A report in Britain's Car magazine, authored by Georg Kacher -- a writer with historically reliable and highly-placed sources -- says VW has been negotiating for months to acquire Suzuki and that the company had planned to announce the consummation of the deal at the Tokyo motor show in October, but last-minute contractual negotiations delayed the timeline.
Now, Kacher says in Car, VW should announce by the end of the year it's completed a deal to own Suzuki, making the Japanese minicar specialist VW's 11th brand.
(Read more...)
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More GM Gyrations: Lutz To Be Reassigned, Reports Say
General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is being reassigned to a new role and some younger execs will be moved up in the continuing shake-up of the management ranks, being 
outlined later Friday morning.
Chairman Ed Whitacre, who replaced ousted Fritz Henderson as interim CEO, is building a team until a replacement CEO can be found, Bloomberg News reports.
Younger managers are being given "more prominent" positions, thus triggering the reassignment of 77-year-old Lutz to a product adviser role, the Wall Street Journal reports. Board member and auto analyst Stephen Girsky becomes an adviser; Mark Reuss, recently appointed vice president of global engineering, gets an expanded role, Bloomberg reports.
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Another Exotic-Car Suitor for Saab
First it was one-off exotic-car builder Koenigsegg Group. With that deal part of history, a new one-off exotic-car maker, Netherlands-based Spyker Cars NV, formally confirmed yesterday it is talking to General Motors Co. about acquiring GM's twisting-in-the-wind Saab Automobiles.
Spyker is backed by its majority owner, Russia's Conversbank Financial Group, which owns 29.9 percent of Spyker, currently best known for its gullwing C8 Aileron sports car. Spyker reportedly has 132 employees and has sold less than 25 cars through the first half of this year. Saab currently employs about 4,500 and sold 93,000 vehicles last year.
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Automakers See Glass Half-Full After Flat November Sales
U.S. auto sales clocked in about flat in November compared with a year ago -- and in line with widespread expectations that the market will only gradually creep upward for at least the next year. But industry executives and analysts mostly chose to interpret the American auto market as a glass half-full.
November sales were 746,544 vehicles compared with 743,605 in November, 2008. On an absolute basis, that number of units represented a 0.4-percent year-to-year monthly sales increase -- or call it flat. But taking into account the fact that the industry enjoyed two fewer "selling days" this year compared with last November, sales actually increased by 9.1 percent last month on an apples-to-apples basis.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:56 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM CEO Search Could Take a Year, Report Says
General Motors Co. Chairman Ed Whitacre, now acting CEO, told employees Wednesday that it may take up to a year to find a replacement for Fritz Henderson, who was ousted by the board on Tuesday, according to a report by Bloomberg News quoting employees who watched Whitacre's 30-minute broadcast.
Those employees told Bloomberg that Whitacre, who spoke conversationally from a few notes, said the search would not be rushed and will be given as much time as is needed.
That suggests that GM's marketing chief Bob Lutz is ruled out. A number of media reports speculated he could be Henderson's successor. It is more likely that his replacement will come from outside of GM.
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Lutz Fills in for Ousted Henderson; Dodges Questions on the Subject
General Motors' just-ousted CEO Fritz Henderson had been slated to speak at the Motor Press Guild's breakfast Wednesday to kick off the Los Angeles auto show's press days. But a day earlier, Henderson got the boot. GM's marketing chief Bob Lutz was called upon to fill in.
He dodged all Henderson-related questions, which reporters didn't hesitate to ask. USA Today's Jim Healy asked: "Isn't it a bad time to lose your CEO?" The normally loquacious Lutz responded, "Next question." The room erupted in laughter.
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First Chevrolet Volts Go on Sale in California
General Motors' Bob Lutz said the first Chevrolet Volts will go on sale in California beginning 
late next year, fulfilling GM's long-held promise that the Volt would be in production by November 2010.
Lutz, speaking to the Motor Press Guild at the opening of the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show Wednesday, announced GM's new partnerships with three California utilities. Those utilities will receive a total of 100 Chevrolet Volts for their company fleets. He said consumers and fleets would take delivery roughly at the same time.
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GM's Henderson Resigns, Whitacre Takes Over
General Motors' CEO Fritz Henderson has resigned and government-appointed chairman Ed 
Whitacre has assumed control as interim CEO of the automaker. A search for a CEO begins immediately, Whitacre confirmed late Tuesday at a hastily scheduled press conference at which he refused to answer questions.
The decision had been made at the GM's board of directors monthly meeting earlier in the day.
In a prepared statement that Whitacre read to reporters gathered at GM's global headquarters in Detroit's Renaissance Center and aired via webcast, Whitacre praised Henderson for his career-long service to GM, including steering the automaker through bankruptcy this past summer. But his statement indicated that while progress had been made post bankruptcy, the pace need to accelerate.
"While momentum has been building over the past several months, all involved agree that changes needed to be made," said Whitacre, retired chairman of AT&T and former college professor.
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GM's Board to Evaluate Potential Bids for Saab
General Motors Board of Directors said Tuesday it has received "expressions of interest in Saab" and will evaluate those potential bids through the end of December.
"At that time, we will determine whether a suitable arrangement for Saab exists," GM said in a statement. "If not, we will begin an orderly wind down of the global Saab business at that time."
GM refused to name specific suitors.
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Incentives Edge Higher in November, Edmunds.com Estimates
Higher Incentives on 2010 models, luxury cars, Hondas, Toyotas and General Motors' orphan brands along with an increase in leasing and lease deals pushed the average automaker incentive in November beyond that of October and that of November a year ago.
Edmunds.com estimates the average incentive at $2,713 per vehicle sold in November, up $52, or 1.9 percent, from October , and up $32, or 1.9 percent, from November 2008.
"With inventories of 2009s being cleared away and 2010 models hitting dealership lots in greater -- more normal -- numbers for this time of year, incentives on those new models are increasing," stated Jessica Caldwell, Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com.
(Read more...)
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After a Wooly Weekend, Saab Still in Play
Thanksgiving week saw the blow-up of yet another deal for a cast-off General Motors Co. brand, but unsurprisingly, nobody's yet declaring Saab Automobile a dead turkey.
A Bloomberg News report from China early Monday had Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC) president Wang Dazong insinuating his company is considering its own play for Saab after Sweden's Koenigsegg Group unceremoniously dropped its bid for GM's perennially money-losing Swedish auto division. BAIC was part of the consortium led by Koenigsegg that originally planned to take over Saab.
And yes, venture capital - the reddest of flags for flailing auto companies - appears to be involved, too.
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Renault's Apparent Cold Feet Killed Saturn-Penske Deal, Report Says
Just as General Motors was about to seal the deal to sell Saturn to the Penske Automotive Group on Sept. 30, French automaker Renault, which had pledged to supply small vehicles to the venture, backed out, an executive involved in the negotiations told a Detroit newspaper.
Tom LaSorda, retired Chrysler president who was helping Penske negotiate the Saturn-Renault deal, laid to rest any notion that it was Penske who wanted to back out of the deal. "Somebody got cold feet" at Renault, LaSorda told Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh, whose article ran in Wednesday's edition.
"We were shocked," LaSorda told paper in his first public comments on the aborted Saturn sale. In fact, little has been said by anyone involved since the deal went sour.
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GM's Sale of Saab to Koenigsegg Collapses
General Motors confirmed Tuesday that its planned sale of Swedish automaker Saab to Koenigsegg Group AB has collapsed with Koenigsegg terminating the sale.
What's next for Saab has yet to be determined.
"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement issued by GM. "Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB.
"Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week," Henderson added.
(Read more...)
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GM Orphans Up for Adoption
General Motors last week began sending out 1.8 million pieces of direct mail to what the 
automaker calls its "free-agent customers" -- customers orphaned by the wind-down of Pontiac and Saturn and the proposed sell-off of Hummer and Saab.
In this first of promised multiple mailings, GM is offering discounts of up to $2,000 on certain models to the nearly 1 million customers of closed GM dealerships, if they go to the next closest dealer by January 4. The automaker also is giving customers of closed dealerships a vehicle inspection and tire rotation at remaining dealerships through May.
"The challenge for us is to grab those customers by the hand and make sure they know where to go," Susan Docherty, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, said in a media conference call last week.
But GM's competitors also are eyeing those up-for-grabs customers.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:14 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
As '09 Inventories Deplete, Who Will Blink First - Carmakers or Customers?
After the sales plunge in the auto market began in earnest in the fall of 2008, automakers scrambled to reduce production schedules, sell off swollen inventories and otherwise deal with a drastically contracting U.S. market.
Now, after months of production cutbacks orchestrated by many automakers and the summer's outsized demand from the $3 billion Cash for Clunkers rebate program, bloated inventories are a thing of the past. Now, data researchers at Edmunds.com say the coming months may be a tug of war between still-cautious buyers and right-sized-but-cash-strapped automakers anxious to hold the line on pricing.
It could be a battle that sees winners and losers on both sides as uncommon market and industry forces collide in what will be an unpredictable sales environment.
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GM Sees 11 Million SAAR Month Possible for November
It's early, admit General Motors prognosticators, but November could hit a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 11 million vehicle sales, making it the highest level this year outside of the Cash for Clunker months of July and August.
GM's top analyst Mike DiGiovanni told media in a conference call Thursday that the automaker is encouraged by positive economic signs and the automaker may turn in its fourth consecutive month of market share gain.
Edmunds.com's forecast, issued early Thursday, is less rosy, putting the predicted SAAR at about 10.34 million vehicles sold in November, which in the best of times is the worst month for vehicle sales except for January.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:34 PM under Analysis , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Engineers Call Customers Who Returned Cars
At the request of General Motors' new chairman, Ed Whitacre, the automaker's top 
engineers are calling the couple hundred customers who are returning or exchanging their GM cars under the 60-day money-back guarantee policy to find out why.
Mark Reuss, GM's recently appointed vice president of global engineering, told reporters Thursday that he personally is calling customers.
This evening, Reuss will call a customer who was dissatisfied with and returned a Chevrolet Malibu under the program. And he will call the buyer of a Chevrolet Silverado who reported the interior room wasn't roomy enough and the exterior paint and finish were unsatisfactory.
(Read more...)
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Latest Hybrids Probably Won't Help Build the Market
In order to prod soccer moms across the nation to plug a visit to the BMW dealership into their Blackberrys, BMW North America Inc. this week nonchalantly announced the price for its first "full" hybrid-electric vehicle, the ActiveHybrid X6: $89,725.
Welcome to hybridization as seen by German luxury marques, who, given their choices for showcasing hybrid technology, seem to be more intent on using their new hybrids to prove why their diesel-powered models make much more sense in terms of actually appealing to consumers.
At nearly $90,000, the ActiveHybrid X6 has a total of 485 horsepower, weighs more than 5,600 pounds, delivers a 2-mpg improvement over than the 6-cylinder X6 (4 mpg better in the city and 1 mpg worse on the highway than the V8 X6) - and still has plenty of extra-price options.
In the spring, BMW will follow up with the ActiveHybrid 7, the hybridized version of its 7-Series flagship. The car is certain to crack the 6-figure price barrier.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:30 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM , In the Media , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevy Volt Less Than One Year Away
Engineers at General Motors Co. working on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle yesterday told the media development remains on track and that the start of production for GM's game-changing, fuel-saving 4-seater now is less than a year away.
When GM unveiled the Volt at the Detroit auto show in January, 2007, the promise of production seemed tantalizingly far-flung - and improbable, given the myriad technical problems GM admitted had to be solved. But chief engineer Andrew Farah says the accelerated development program is on schedule and GM will begin producing the Volt in less than a year's time.
And despite the recent drama involving the proposed sale of GM's Adam Opel AG European operations and the company's eleventh-hour decision to keep the division, Farah says Opel's version of the Volt, the Ampera, remains on target to hit showrooms about a year after the Volt.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
For GM, It's North America - Or Bust
The good news after General Motors Co.'s report on its financial health was released Monday: the "new" General isn't dying.
But the patient's long-term prognosis, admitted CEO Fritz Henderson, isn't exactly a clean bill of health just yet.
"When you come away from it, we lost money (in the period from July 10 to Sept. 30)" said Henderson, calling the situation "not satisfactory."
And while GM's operating cash flow figure for the period was a healthy-enough $3.3 billion, one recurring malady has popped up on GM's first-ever post-bankruptcy report: North American operations didn't get the job done.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 4:33 PM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Shows Chevrolet Cruze at LA Show; Will Announce Volt Marketing Plans
General Motors Co will unveil the U.S. production version of its Chevrolet Cruze small sedan at the Los Angeles auto show in early December.
The Cruze goes on sale in the third quarter of 2010. GM boasts it will achieve highway fuel economy ratings of up to 40 miles per gallon. The Cruze already is on sale in foreign markets.
GM also said it will announce plans for initial retail markets for the Chevrolet Volt extended range car during the auto show. GM has promised the Volt will be on sale in November 2010.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:47 AM under GM , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GMAC Chief: Become a Premier Auto Finance Company
Michael Carpenter, a board member turned new chief of GMAC Financial Services, vowed to make the company into "a premier auto finance company," something it has not been of late.
Troubled GMAC provides loans to General Motors customers and dealers and eventually will do the same for Chrysler but itself has been living on government loans to survive.
"The top priority is to turn GMAC into a premier auto finance company and pay back the government in a reasonable time frame," Carpenter said. "I am confident we can achieve that."
(Read more...)
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GM Sales, Prices Rise Since Bankruptcy; Profit Per Vehicle Flat
General Motors, which reported its first financial results Monday since emerging from 
bankruptcy July 10, has boosted market share and hiked vehicle prices since its bankruptcy, but its typical profit per vehicle remains essentially flat, according to Edmunds.com.
GM's U.S. market share of 21.1 percent matched its high point for the year in October. Sticker prices are at their highest point of the year as well. However, higher share and higher prices aren't translating into higher profits per vehicle because, while consumers are willing to pay more for new GM models, they are unwilling to do so for the carryover ones.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:56 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Will Make First Government Loan Repayments in December
General Motors said Monday, in releasing its first financial statement since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 10, it would make its first loan repayments to U.S. and Canadian taxpayers next month. At that time, it will pay back a total of $1.2 billion.
Still, the new GM reported a loss of $1.15 billion in its first 83 days of operation. However, that was an improvement from last year.
"We have significantly more work to do, but today's results provide evidence of the solid foundation we're building for the new GM," said GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson in a company statement. "With a healthier balance sheet and a competitive cost structure, our focus is on driving top line performance. We'll achieve that by winning customers over, one at a time, with vehicles that deliver performance and value."
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TARP Watchdog Reiterates: Billions Loaned to Automakers Likely Lost
Top executives at General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC have both gone out of their way in the past week to say their once-bankrupt companies are positioning themselves to pay back the tens of billions of dollars loaned to them by the federal government.
The man charged with overseeing the U.S. Dept. of Treasury program through which the money was loaned doesn't share their confidence.
Neil Barofsky, the special investigator assigned by Congress as the watchdog for the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, said at a conference in Washington D.C. that while GM and Chrysler may pay back some of the approximately $65 billion extended to them, the U.S. probably won't ever see full payback.
"Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be lost on the automotive bailout," Barofsky said flatly.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
New-Gen Buick Midsizer Flaunts German DNA
General Motors Co.'s Buick division today released images and information for the 2011 Buick Regal and is openly billing the new-age Buick as a sport sedan.
Given the new Regal's origins with GM's second-generation global midsize chassis that was engineered by Adam Opel AG - the Germany-based European division GM just retrieved from the clutches of mega-supplier Magna and Russia's Sberbank - there might be reasonable credibility for the sport-sedan claim.
In addition to being based on the German-engineered Epsilon II architecture also used by the well-regarded new Opel Insignia (not to mention Buick's new LaCrosse sedan), the 2011 Regal also will be built in Germany at Opel's Russelsheim assembly plant.
The Regal's lines may be some of the crispest ever to be seen in a Buick showroom and GM is calling out the Acura TSX, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda6 and even the Volvo S60 as competitors. The Regal goes on sale in the second quarter next year - and in a significant sign of the times, only 4-cylinder power will be on offer.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:55 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Whitacre: A Sense of Urgency to Repay Taxpayer Money
General Motors has made remarkable strides since emerging from bankruptcy July 10 and is "better positioned for success than I thought was possible" then, said Ed Whitacre in his first public speech since becoming GM chairman in July.
"We're getting into a fighting shape. We have a long way to go, but we're definitely on our way," he told an audience at Texas Lutheran University near San Antonio. The retired AT&T chairman taught at the university just before taking GM's top job at the U.S. government's behest.
Whitacre said there's a strong sense of urgency inside the automaker to repay the billions GM owes in government loans.
"I can't tell you when (we'll pay it back) but it'll be sooner than you think," Whitacre told a political science student who asked when the company would repay taxpayers.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:44 PM under Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Invests to Boost Equinox, Terrain Production
General Motors will invest nearly $100 million in a Canadian plant and call back all laid-off 
workers to boost production of its Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports.
The investment will be made in CAMI Automotive Inc., a joint venture between GM and Suzuki Motor Corp. in Ingersoll, Ontario, near Toronto. The plant will call back 150 laid off workers, which means the plant will have no employees on layoff.
Photo by GM
2010 Chevrolet Equinox
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:47 AM under Business , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Makes Right Decision to Keep Opel
General Motors' decision to keep Opel has ruffled political feathers and rankled the union 
rank and file in Germany, but it is - and always was - the right business decision for the automaker.
While it is in dire need of restructuring that it clearly is about to get, Opel gives GM a presence in Europe that Chevrolet alone cannot. Even more important, Opel architectures and engineering expertise are the backbone GM's global growth.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:56 AM under Commentary , GM , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM-Europe Chief Reportedly Quits; Opel Restructuring Begins
The chief of General Motors European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, plans to leave the company after this week's u-turn that calls for the automaker keeping rather than selling Opel. European media reports claim. GM's head of all international operations Nick Reilly is said to be stepping in for the time being.
GM is not commenting on the personnel changes. However, on Thursday - the day after GM's announced it would keep Opel -- GM CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters in Detroit that a transition team is being quickly gathered to oversee the restructuring of GM's German subsidiary. GM also will keep its British subsidiary, Vauxhall
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:20 AM under Business , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Board Votes to Keep Europe's Opel
General Motor board of directors, meeting in Detroit Tuesday, has voted that the automaker keep its European subsidiary Adam Opel AG in light of the improving environment for GM and the importance of Opel and Vauxhall, its British entity, to its global strategy, the automaker said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
GM, however, will initiate a restructuring of its European operations "in earnest," it said.
GM has a tentative agreement to sell Opel to Canadian-Austrian parts supplier Magna International, with the financial backing of Russia's Sberbank.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:14 PM under GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Incentives Dip as Automakers Launch 2010 Models
Incentives paid by automakers dipped in October from September and a year ago as they launch new 2010 models, which don't need them yet, and wind down 2009 models, Edmunds.com reports.
The average automotive manufacturer incentive in the U.S. was $2,468 per vehicle sold in October 2009, according to Edmunds.com analysis of Total Cost of Incentives (TCI). That's down $329, or 11.8 percent, from September, and down $209, or 7.8 percent, from October 2008.
"Incentives declined because fewer old model-year vehicles were sold in October, and the newer vehicles are not discounted nearly as heavily," explained Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com. "Over 55 percent of vehicles sold in October were 2010 model year, compared with about 36 percent in September."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:00 AM under Analysis , Companies , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
October Is Year's Best Non-Clunker Month for Car Sales, Edmunds.com Forecasts
October car sales are expected to come in at the highest level of the year except for during the summer's frenzied Cash for Clunker months, Edmunds.com forecasts.
Industry sales, being reported on Tuesday, are expected to total 830,000 vehicles, almost even with a year ago and up 11.4 percent from September. That would push October's Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) to 10.35 million, up from 9.19 in September.
""There are clear signs that the automotive industry is finally starting to recover from the painful lows experienced earlier this year,"said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com's director of Industry Analysis.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:59 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Featured , Ford , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Vehicles Returned under GM 60-Day Guarantee Less Than 1%
Less than 1 percent of the vehicles bought under General Motors' 60-day moneyback guarantee program have been returned.
Susan Docherty, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, said 142,000 vehicles have been sold under the program with 449 customers opting for the guarantee instead of the $500 cash rebate. Of those, four have returned their vehicles and gotten their money back on a Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Silverado. In total, 49 customers, including the four that already have returned their vehicles, are in the process of a return or exchange, she said.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:33 AM under GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Forecasts 10.7 Million SAAR for October
General Motors predicts the Seansonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of car sales in October will come in at 10.7 million total vehicles, including heavy- and medium-duty trucks. On a light vehicle basis, GM forecasts at 10.5 million SAAR.
GM's top analyst Mike DiGiovanni told reporters Wednesday morning that October may be the first month since January 2008 that GM will report a year-over-year increase in sales and market share. The automaker expects its third consecutive month of market share increase for a total market share of 20 to 21 percent and 19 to 20 percent in retail market share.
"We're not here to declare victory," said Susan Docherty, GM's new vice president in charge of U.S. sales, during the "Straight Talk" conference call. "We're here to report progress."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:09 AM under Analysis , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Former Chrysler Sells Delaware Durango Plant; GM Sells Its Delaware Plant
The state of Delaware was the scene of some historic and trend-setting events this week, as the "old" business entities of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC both sold cast-off assembly plants as the companies as part of the companies' rapid downsizing.
The site of Chrysler's assembly plant in Newark will be sold to the University of Delaware for a new research center. The plant, which most recently built the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs, was sold to the university for $24.25 million, according to the Delaware News Journal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:43 AM under Business , Chrysler , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fisker Automotive Buys Plant from 'Old' GM
Fisker Automotive, the new-age startup company aiming to sell an expensive and high-tech extended-range electric vehicle next year, confirmed it has purchased an assembly plant in Wilmington, DE, from Motors Liquidation Co., the entity holding the assets of the former General Motors Co.
Fisker said in a media release the company paid $18 million for the plant, which most recently build the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky 2-seat sportscars.
That's a great price to acquire what is essentially a fully functional auto assembly plant with a relatively new paint shop, one of the costliest areas of investment in any auto-assembly operation.
Fisker said it will invest another $175 million to retool the plant to produce a still-under-development plug-in hybrid sedan targeted to sell for considerably less than the $87,000 Karma extended-range electric sport sedan Fisker plans to begin selling next year.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:10 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Only Five GM Execs on Pay-Czar List Involved in Car Business
The new compensation plan for General Motors Co. CEO Fritz Henderson made the 
headlines last week after particulars of the ruling from Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration's "pay czar" became known. But there were many other interesting details in that report - including the fact that of the 20 highest-paid GM executives whose pay packages had to be approved by Feinberg, only five work on the operational side of GM.
Fifteen of the 20 executives whose compensation packages came under review have nothing to do with GM's automaking business - they are employees of Promark Global Advisors, GM's asset-management company that until this past March was known as General Motors Asset Management.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:40 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Brands Looking to Expand Luxury Crossover Share Dealing With Ruthless Trends
Sometime right after the middle of this decade, just about everyone decided luxury crossover 
vehicles were going to be the industry's next big profit center.
Sales of traditional body-on-frame SUVs were falling off after a brief but consumer-mindset-shifting run-up of gasoline prices in the summer of 2006. The fuel-price scare came just as the crossover segment was starting to swell, pumping up buyer interest in the newly "invented" alternative to the SUV (and in some cases, pickup trucks).
But better still, Americans still were snapping up luxury items at an unprecedented pace, encouraged by ballooning home prices and easy credit.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:14 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
COMMENTARY: Pay Czar on Board
General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC executives are having their salaries cut - and like the often petulant professional-sports millionaires their typically outsized senses of worth so closely resemble - are at the same time getting some religion about responsibility and selfishness.
By now, anybody interested probably knows the details: direct salary for each company's token top 20 or 25 executives is cut an average of 31 percent at GM and about 18 percent at Chrysler. Salaries exceeding $500,000 are all but verboten. Instead, the big money that Detroit execs used to nail down just for phoning it in now is tied to longer-term company performance.
There's a notion.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:49 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
October Sales Returning to Pre-Clunker Norm
With another week gone by, October sales look to be on track for Seasonally Adjusted 
Annualized Rate (SAAR) in the low 10 million range, according to the latest data from Edmunds.com, which issues a more detailed forecast later this week.
General Motors' market share, which in the early going of the month stood at 22.4 percent, has slipped slightly to 21.7 percent in the latest Edmunds.com analysis.
In terms of sales by segments, the market appears to be returning to a pre-Cash for Clunkers equilibrium between large SUVs and trucks compared with small cars.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:39 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
'Old' GM May Offload Plant on New-Age Automaker
The "old" General Motors Corp. - now known by the name Motors Liquidation Co. - could be 
on the verge of completing a deal that would bring in some revenue to pay back some of the former GM's creditors, according to a report over the weekend from the Wall Street Journal.
Motors Liquidation reportedly is ready to sell its assembly plant in Wilmington, Del., to Irvine, Calif., new-tech automaker Fisker Automotive Inc. The company, whose CEO is Henrik Fisker, a former designer for BMW AG, has made headlines in recent years with his Fisker Karma extended-range electric vehicle, a slinky, nearly-$90,000 sport sedan set to go on sale next year. The Karma will be produced in Finland under contract with known low-volume vehicle assembler Valmet Automotive.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:22 AM under Companies , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
More Delay for Sale of GM's Opel
Anyone - or is it everyone at this point - hoping for an October finish for the saga of General Motors Co.'s sale of its Adam Opel AG European operations will have to wait at least a while longer.
In a blog at GM's website, John Smith, GM's group vice president of business development and the company's lead negotiator, said GM's deal to sell Opel to a consortium headed by Canada's Magna International Inc. and Russia's Sberbank will be on hold until at least early November.
The deal has won approval from the Opel Trust Board, but the European Union expressed concern about several details and their potential transnational effect on labor in various nations in which Opel operates.
The EU also "has been reviewing the Opel investor process and the circumstances surrounding the selection of Magna/Sberbank," Smith said in the blog. Some EU member nations have expressed skepticism that GM's decision to sell to the Magna/Sberbank group was based solely on business metrics.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:23 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Screaming Deals on Convertibles, Luxury Cars, Sports Cars and Dying Models, Edmunds.com Reports
The industry's best deals right now are in luxury cars, sports cars and convertibles as well as 
leftover 2009 models, according to Edmunds.com.
As for brands, Lincoln, Saab and Volvo are offering great deals, as are Pontiac and Saturn, which are being discountinued completely by General Motors.
"Dealers should be open to any decent offer since they know that these vehicles, which often sell to a fashion-conscious crowd, will drop in value once the 2010 model year vehicles roll in. There will be nothing harder to sell than a 2009 convertible in winter with 2010 fast approaching," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. And there is ample inventory of 2009 models, she added
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:12 AM under Analysis , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Manufacturers Offer Richest Incentives Since Cash for Clunkers
After dismal September car sales due to the hangover from the government's Cash for 
Clunkers program, auto manufacturers have ramped up incentives in October as they have ramped up production to refill the inventory pipeline, according to Edmunds.com.
The incentives show manufacturers are extremely eager to sell off 2009 models left in inventory. But automakers are also offering incentives on newly launched 2010 models.
"This year has been a wild ride for automakers, and it's not over yet," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "No segment is unaffected by the current round of incentives, though luxury models and trucks are being discounted particularly heavily."
Low-interest financing, including zero-interest financing, and cash rebates dominate the landscape, but subsidized lease programs, almost non-existent in the past years, are proliferating as well.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:43 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Coskata Fires Up First 'Flex' Ethanol Plant, in Pennsylvania
Coskata Inc. has pushed toward the front of the pack of second-generation ethanol producers 
by firing up its new "semi-commercial" facility for manufacturing cellulosic ethanol in Madison, Pa., near Pittsburgh. The $50-million result of research and construction is 65 feet tall and includes an 8,000-degree torch that processes the pine chips which serve as a raw material.
The opening of the facility last week moves the Warrendale, Ill.-based company closer to building a full-scale commercial plant, which Coskata anticipates opening by late 2012.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:58 AM under Business , GM , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
COMMENTARY Memo to Detroit Auto Bosses: Hold Your Tongue
Put up or shut up, albeit in more polite European terms, is basically financial columnist Antony Currie's advice to Detroit's auto bosses.
The Big Three bosses have returned to one of their favorite past times, writes Currie on the financial blog site, Breakingviews.com: "... each of the Big Three's bosses has been indulging in painting rosy scenarios for their firms. But like pronouncements of the past, they're a tad premature."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:48 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Ford , GM , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Regaining Lost Market Share Ground in October, Edmunds.com Reports
General Motors is regaining some ground it lost in terms of market share this month, 
according to Edmunds.com.
If the early October trend continues, GM's market share should rise to 22.4 percent this month, a boost from the third-quarter average of 19.1 percent. Based on early October numbers, the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of industry sales will come in at just above 10 million vehicles.
Launches of new models combined with a substantial hike in ad spending this month are helping.
Indeed, GM needs good news on the market-share front since its business plan is based on maintaining a market share of at least 19 percent with half the brands and fewer models, one of its board directors said Thursday.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:35 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
"New" GM Goes on the Offense with Quarterback Lutz
Expect the "new" General Motors to play offense when it comes to marketing and communications, Bob Lutz, GM's chief marketing quarterback, told the media Tuesday.
"We have to shock Americans into a new awareness about the competitiveness of GM products," Lutz said. "We can't do it the way we used to do it by gently showing our products. We've got to take it on boldly and head-on. We can stand the comparison with just about anybody."
The recently launched May the Best Car Win, starring GM's government-appointed chairman Ed Whitacre was just the beginning.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:10 AM under Featured , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Buick Recommissions Regal Name
The refrain from General Motors Co.'s Buick division is that it wants to entice younger buyers to forget about Buick's car-for-the-Medicare-crowd reputation. But Buick announced today it's nonetheless resurrecting an old name for its next midsize car: the model will be called the Regal.
"The Regal name has played a very important role in Buick's history for many years and continues to be one of the top Buick nameplates recalled by consumers, even though it's been out of the market for the past six years," Buick said today in a release.
In August, GM showed the media a midsize-sedan concept car but did not indicate the car's name, although it was speculated the Regal nameplate - still used in China - could be revived for the U.S. market.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:10 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
China on Track to Surpass U.S. in Sales This Year
China is on track to surpass the U.S. in vehicle sales this year. Automakers reported selling more than 1 million vehicles in September - a first - according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
China's total vehicle sales are expected to close the year at 12 million, as much as 2 million above what analysts project for the U.S.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:35 AM under Ford , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Buyers Pick Cash Over Guarantee
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters the "vast majority" of GM buyers are taking the $500 rebate instead of the automaker's 60-day money-back guarantee.
His admission suggests GM is attracting buyers already committed to the brands rather than convincing fence-sitters or converting intenders of competitive makes.
GM's money-back guarantee promotion, which runs through Nov. 30, allows customers to return their vehicles between day 31 and 60 of ownership nearly free of charge. However, after the program started, GM added a $500 rebate if they waive the policy.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:17 AM under Business , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM May Conclude Opel Sale with Magna This Week
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters during his visit to China Tuesday that the automaker may sign its deal to sell a majority stake in Opel to Magna International and its Russian partner later this week.
Under the agreement, GM will sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to a consortium including Canada's Magna and Russia's Sberbank. The deal has created furor with Opel and Vauxhall unions because of the massive job losses anticipated and the ire of European governments, which are being asked to subsidize the deal.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:44 AM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Fritz Henderson Deserves Nobel Prize, Columnist Says
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson deserves the Nobel Prize more than President Barack Obama because he has the toughest job in the world, Wall Street Journal's Evan Newmark wrote in his Mean Street column.
Henderson "has to save GM, once America's proudest company and now its national disgrace," and he doesn't have four years to prove himself nor does he have Congress or Fox News to blame if things go wrong, Newmark writes.
Henderson has accomplished a lot in his inaugural months, most notably getting through bankruptcy. "None of that was easy. But now comes the difficult Nobel-worthy stuff - putting an executive team in place, overhauling GM's culture and making cars that Americans actually want to buy," Newmark points out.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:26 AM under GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Done Deal. GM Sells Hummer to Chinese Company
General Motors, as expected, announced Friday it had signed an agreement with China's 
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd. Friday to sell Hummer.
The deal is subject to approvals by U.S. regulatory agencies and Chinese authorities. Tengzhong acquires ownership of the Hummer brand, trademark and trade names, as well as specific intellectual property license rights necessary to manufacturer vehicles. Tengzhong also assumes the existing dealer agreements.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:36 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mega-Dealer AutoNation Supports GM's Axe-Swinging
The boss of the nation's largest auto-dealer chain is saying it now - and General Motors Co.'s Saturn knew it almost 25 years ago: GM has too many dealers.
Automotive News reports that Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation Inc., the country's largest auto dealership group, said in a speech this week that GM was right when it made the decision that as many as 40 percent of its dealers need to be closed if the newly restructured GM -- and its dealers -- are to survive in a vastly changed automotive market.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:12 AM under Commentary , GM , Personalities | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Sale of Hummer to Chinese Company Imminent
General Motors will finalize its sale of Hummer to China's Tengzhong as early as Friday, various media outlets, citing unnamed sources, report.
GM likely will take in about $150 million for the sale, far less than the $500 million it wanted.
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, a little-known heavy machinery maker, has been in negotiations with GM since June.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:39 AM under Companies , GM , Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Car Buyers Pay 2% More This Year, Edmunds.com Data Shows
Consumers are paying 2 percent more this year for new cars and trucks than they were a 
year ago, according to Edmunds.com.
That's good news for automakers eager to turn profits on fewer sales, but bad news for consumers.
The average price of a car or truck sold in the United States was $28,492 for the first nine months of the year, compared with $27,945 last year, according to Edmunds.com. The average transaction estimate doesn't include manufacturer rebates.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:29 AM under Analysis , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Huge U.S.-Market Backdoor Ready To Open for Chinese Automakers
A few years back, it was the first appearance of a Chinese automaker at the Detroit auto 
show that seemed to start the serious speculation about when the Chinese would crack into the U.S. market. Assessing the functional but rudimentary models on display, some predicted 2015 or 2020.
Instead, how about next year?
OK, it won't be with their own China-built models. But there are three pending brand-takeover deals -- General Motors Co.'s Saab and Hummer and Ford's Volvo Cars -- in which a Chinese automaker has a leading or secondary role. If any of the three purchases make it to completion -- and it's probable at least two will -- Chinese automakers will in effect be selling vehicles in the U.S.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:29 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Brent Dewar: Chevrolet Is General Motors
The future success of the new General Motors Company rests largely on the bowtie of 
Chevrolet. With the automaker winnowing its brands from eight to only four, Chevrolet carries the load for sales and market share around the world.
And the weight of Chevrolet rests on the shoulders of Brent Dewar, who was named the vice president of Chevrolet Global after the automaker emerged from bankruptcy in July. He headed Chevrolet in the early part of the decade as the automaker made plans to take the brand global.
"Chevrolet needs to be the General Motors Company," Dewar told AutoObserver.com in an exclusive interview recently.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:49 AM under Business , Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Names Susan Docherty New Sales Chief
General Motors wasted no time in naming a new sales chief. 
Susan Docherty, who was heading Buick-Pontiac-GMC, will become GM's vice president of U.S. sales, replacing Mark LaNeve, whose departure from the automaker was announced Wednesday morning.
"Susan will bring a wealth of experience from previous marketing and sales assignments," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement. "I have confidence that she will bring a new perspective to the position as she guides a new, lean and customer-focused dealer network."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:07 PM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Satisfied with Early Post-Bankruptcy Progress
Saying the "new" General Motors Co. that emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 10 is mostly achieving its goals for cost and debt reductions and is exceeding its projections in some key business metrics, CEO Fritz Henderson said in a media conference call Wednesday that GM is making progress in its three-pronged future strategy to focus on customers, cars and changing its corporate culture.
Just 90 days into its new status as a private company, GM was long on generalities and brief of specifics, however.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:10 AM under Business , Featured , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Sales Chief LaNeve Leaves the Automaker
Mark LaNeve, General Motors vice president of U.S. sales, is leaving the automaker effective October 15, GM CEO Fritz Henderson announced Wednesday morning.
The announcement comes as no surprise as GM has cut about a third of its management ranks since emerging from bankruptcy in July. GM sales and market share continue to shrink. In July, LaNeve's role at GM was narrowed to U.S. sales only. Bob Lutz, who chose to stay with the company instead of leaving as he had planned, took over marketing.
Henderson said his replacement has not been selected but that the company would move fast to find one. He also didn't rule out bringing someone from the outside.
LaNeve has taken a position in a business outside of the auto industry.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:28 AM under GM , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's 90-Day Report Card: Mixed Results
The day in July when General Motors emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, CEO Fritz Henderson declared the new GM would focus on three things -- customers, cars and culture.
On Wednesday morning, Henderson is scheduled to give a 90-day progress report on how GM is doing.
So how is GM really doing in those three categories?
As for customers, GM, despite trying new ways to lure them, has found too few. As for cars, GM's new offerings are promising. As for culture, the jury's still out. And disappointments -- there have been a few.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:03 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Big Bucks on the Hood of Pricey Hybrids
Low gas prices and even lower demand in the luxury market have conspired to short-circuit sales of premium hybrid-electric vehicles. Now, as the fourth quarter begins to wind down a fairly lousy year for auto sales - and new 2010 models are shouldering their way onto dealer lots - automakers are piling on some fantastic incentives in the hope of clearing out leftover big-money hybrids.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus premium division, owner of the market's most-expensive hybrid in its LS 600h L, rang in October with a bulging $10,000 dealer-cash incentive on the '09 model of the flagship hybrid. The company also is offered a bounty of $1,000 to any sales associate selling an '09 LS 600h L, which starts at $106,035.
Toyota doesn't break out sales of the hybrid LS in its monthly sales reports, but sales of the entire LS line are down 53.7 percent through September as sales in almost all luxury segments continue to fade.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:17 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Automakers Eager to Move Past September's Tepid Sales
U.S. auto sales in September dipped to predicted lows because the Cash for Clunkers program ended in August and there weren't many buyers left, car company executives reported Thursday. They're just hoping that the market's massive "payback" via September's sales drought isn't extended into the fourth quarter.
Americans bought just 745,516 vehicles in September, a 23-percent drop from a year ago. That represents an abysmal Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of sales of just 9.2 million units - the lowest since February and roughly the laconic pace at which economically shell-shocked consumers purchased cars during the first half of the year.
And it was far below -- 41 percent, to be exact -- the relatively breathtaking sales rate of 14.1 million units that prevailed for August, when most buyers took advantage of a total of $3.5 billion in rebates under the federal government's clunkers program and purchased more fuel-efficient vehicles. September's sales volume plunged by more than a half-million units compared with August.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:28 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (13) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's LaNeve: eBay Venture Postponed, Not Cancelled
General Motors head of sales said its California experiment listing dealer inventories on 
eBay's Web site is not cancelled for good; rather it is postponed.
"By no means was it a failure," said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of sales, said in Thursday's sales conference call. "It was a pilot and we're not ready to go full bore with it but we think we've got something that could work with some tweaking of the model."
He added: "It was an interesting program with interesting results."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:43 AM under Companies , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Renault Confirms Deal with Penske Couldn't Be Reached to Supply Saturn
A Renault executive confirmed negotiations to provide Penske Automotive Group with 
vehicles to sell as Saturns broke down at the last minute.
"We negotiated with them but we were unable to reach agreement at the end," Renault COO Patrick Pelata told Bloomberg News in an interview on the sidelines of a Paris news conference Thursday.
Pelata said Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn didn't recommend approval of an agreement with Penske to the board, which met Wednesday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:19 AM under Companies , GM | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Incentives on the Rise through Year-End, Edmunds.com Predicts
After five straight months of decline, incentives are on the rise again, according to Edmunds.com.
The average manufacturer incentive totaled $2,557 per vehicle sold in September, up $83 or 3.4 percent from August, Edmunds.com estimates. That was down $344, or 11.9 percent from September 2008.
This summer's Cash for Clunkers program substituted as a manufacturer incentive but with the program over and vehicle inventories being replenished, consumers aren't buying, as will be seen when automakers report September sales Thursday. Edmunds.com forecasts sales for the month will come in at only about a 9.3 million Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR).
Now customers need a reason to buy.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:22 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Penske Breaks Off Talks with GM for Saturn; Saturn Goes Away
In a surprise move, Penske Automotive Group terminated discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn due to its inability to secure agreements for the future supply of vehicles beyond what it had negotiated with GM. As a result, GM will wind down Saturn much as it is doing now with its Pontiac division.
In a statement issued by the Penske Group late Wednesday, on the eve of the expected close of the deal, the auto retailing group cited "concerns directly related to the future supply of vehicles beyond the supply period it had negotiated with GM."
Retailers who had signed franchise agreements for the new Penske-run Saturn group were as shocked as anyone. They were scheduled to attend meetings with company founder Roger Penske next week, after the deal was closed, to hear about plans for product and timing. Instead, they head through the media - not the Penske group, Saturn or GM -- that the deal had fallen apart. Some are hoping something can be salvaged of the plan.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:33 PM under Featured , GM | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Penske To Close Saturn Sale This Week
Detroit media reports that General Motors will announce Wednesday or Thursday it has completed the sale of its Saturn division to Penske Automotive Group, though no one from either GM or Penske will confirm the report.
GM and the Penske group have been negotiating the deal since June. In an exclusive interview with Edmunds' AutoObserver.com then, Roger Penske laid out his vision for Saturn as a different kind of global motors -- one that sells GM-made models but also sells vehicles made in other parts of the world by offshore manufacturers.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:23 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Says Bye, Bye eBay
General Motors will end its listing of cars online through eBay this week because it didn't generate sales, a newspaper report says.
The program had been set to end September 8 but was extended through the end of the month. GM had been optimistic that it would be successful and would be rolled out nationwide. But it has not generated sales, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sales figures and dealer comments.
As a result, GM will not extend the eBay venture beyond September, the newspaper reported. A GM spokesman did not confirm the report.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:07 AM under Analysis , Business , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Soft Sales Test Automakers' Resolve to Restrain Incentive Spending
Automakers will have their resolve to scaleback incentive 
spending tested in the coming months as their assembly plants ramp up production to beef up inventory and sales continue to be soft.
Incentives on General Motors, Ford and Chrysler vehicles plummeted by 26 percent to $3,278 per vehicle in August from a March peak, according to Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com. Industrywide incentives fell 22 percent to $2,474 per vehicle.
"Automakers have to pull the lever and increase production in an unknown market," Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell told Bloomberg News. "They could find there are no buyers out there and have to raise incentives again. It's a vicious circle."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:03 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM 60-Day, Money-Back Guarantee Is Working -- Mostly
General Motors launched its latest marketing campaign, "May the Best Car Win," a couple 
of weeks ago. It includes a 60-day money-back guarantee to buyers of its Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC models through Nov. 30, which could be extended, a GM execuctive said Friday.
Is the campaign working?
The answer is - mostly.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:49 AM under Analysis , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
September Car Sales on Track for 9.3 Million Rate, Edmunds.com Forecasts
September's hangover from August's Cash for Clunkers program appears to be easing.
New vehicle sales for the month are expected to total 742,000 units, off 22.9 percent from September 2008 and down 41.1 percent from August when Cash for Clunkers was in full swing, according to Edmunds.com's forecast. That would put the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of sales at 9.34 million vehicles. Automakers report U.S. sales on Oct. 1.
"The aftereffects of Cash for Clunkers are still being felt: a significant number of September sales were pulled ahead into August, and many September shoppers left showrooms empty-handed after finding low inventories and high prices," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "However, the industry's sales rebound is gaining momentum, so there is room for a small upside surprise on sales announcement day."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:09 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Consumers Wary of GM Money-Back Guarantee Fine Print
It's been just over a week now since GM announced its new 60-day money-back guarantee. The good news is that car shoppers in Edmunds.com's CarSpace forums are talking a lot about it. The bad news, though, is that they don't have a lot of nice things to say.
Almost everyone agrees that the promise sounds great. But, like most savvy shoppers, they're wary of the fine print. Specifically, they want to know exactly how much dough they're getting back if it turns out they don't like that new Chevy Malibu after all.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:42 AM under Analysis , GM | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
New LaCrosse Not Scoring Big With Buick's Preferred Prospects - Yet
General Motors Co. is counting on the 2010 Buick LaCrosse to be one of the company's first post- 
bankruptcy models to prove the company is serious about its professed new focus on developing only outstanding new products.
The LaCrosse may in fact be the most competitive and progressive Buick of the last 20 years. But whether the car can help change the perception of the brand and turn the heads of the luxury-car customers Buick is targeting is something that remains to be seen, according to data from Edmunds.com.
Buick officials have said they think the LaCrosse's blend of style, content and value will put the car on the consideration list of intenders for import entry-luxury sedans such as the Lexus ES 350 and Acura TL.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:44 AM under Analysis , GM | Comments (11) | digg this | del.icio.us
Buick Billboards Poke Fun at Lexus; Tweets Poke Fun at Buick Tagline
At least a couple of automakers are headed into the 2010 model year donning boxing gloves.
Feisty billboards popping up across the country have the Buick LaCrosse taking dead aim at Lexus ES 350. One shows the LaCrosse with the line "Another thing for Lexus to relentlessly pursue" in a play on Lexus' ad tagline.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:16 AM under Commentary , GM , Toyota | Comments (11) | digg this | del.icio.us
Buick Launches Ads Starring LaCrosse and "Class" Tagline
General Motors' Buick division launches a major advertising campaign with the first 
ads starring the new LaCrosse and premiering the new tagline -- "The New Class of World Class."
The Buick ad, airing for the first time in prime time Monday, is one of the promised brand- and model-specific follow-ups to come on the heels of a GM corporate marketing program that was heavily promoted last week.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:10 AM under Featured , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Edmunds.com Final Tally: Cash for Clunkers Buys, Trades; Ford Focus No. 1 Buy
Edmunds.com has completed its final tally of the most popular vehicle purchases and most 
frequent trade-ins under the Cash for Clunkers. The Ford Focus held its No. 1 spot as the favorite buy; the Ford Explorer remained the No. 1 trade-in.
Indeed, the top 10 lists in both categories wound up little changed from the early scoring on Edmunds.com's lists.
And, in fact, many of the top clunker buys are the industry's bestsellers in non-clunker times. Eight of the 10 vehicles on the top 10 clunker buy list are also in the top 10 for the year so far in total; only the order is changed.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:20 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Guarantee Continuing to Increase Buyer Consideration
General Motors 60-day moneyback guarantee is generating increased interest in Buick, 
Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles, according to Edmunds.com.
Shopping consideration for GM vehicles on Edmunds.com's Web site -- which can suggest future sales -- has trended upward in the last three days, in the range of a 15 to 17 percent.
Chevrolet and GMC are getting the biggest consideration lifts from the ad campaign, according to Edmunds.com's data. Specific models getting more shopper attention than before are: the new Chevrolet Camaro sports car; the near-twin GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs; the new GMC Acadia crossover; and the GMC Sierra pickup.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:52 AM under Analysis , GM | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
So Far, So Good for GM's 60-Day Guarantee
General Motors' just-launched marketing program that provides the consumer with a 60-day moneyback guarantee on the purchase of a Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet or GMC vehicle is generating interest in the early going, according to Edmunds.com and GM data.
Shopping consideration for GM vehicles on Edmunds.com's Web site -- which suggests future sales -- shows a 10 percent increase in the first couple of days since GM's "May the Best Car Win" campaign and the accompanying advertisements, featuring government-appointed chairman Ed Whitacre, hitting the airwaves on Sunday.
"What we'll be watching if GM's consideration stays at those levels or whether it rises or drops," said David Tompkins, Ph.D., Edmunds.com's executive director of Business Analytics. If it stays at 10 percent, he noted, that could result in a market share hike of 2 percent.
But it is too early to know which way GM consideration will go, he added.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:35 AM under Analysis , GM , Personalities | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
President Obama Visits GM Ohio Plant; AutoObserver Follows Him on Twitter
President Obama is visiting General Motors' assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, Tuesday, 
giving a speech on jobs, the economy and, of course, the mention of health care to a packed house of auto executives, local dignitaries and United Auto Worker union employees.
GM CEO Fritz Henderson will host the president at the more than four-decades-old plant that now builds the Chevrolet Cobalt and will soon convert to building GM's all-important Chevrolet Cruze.
The trip marks the president's first one to an auto plant since the federal government's bailout of GM and Chrysler from bankruptcy. He visited several auto manufacturing facilities during his campaign.
AutoObserver's senior contributing editor Bill Visnic will be chronicling the president's visit to the plant on Twitter @autoobserver.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:10 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Remaining GM Dealers To Get a Pay Cut
"Don't worry about the profit margin -- you'll make it up on volume."
Anyone familiar with any kind of retailing has heard that platitude, but General Motors Co. dealers will be the latest to find out if it works.
GM reportedly plans to chop a half-percent from dealer margins as the company -- goaded by new chairman Ed Whitacre -- scrambles to regain slipping share and revenue.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:27 AM under Business , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Magna Consortium Gets Opel, but GM Retains Large Hunk
General Motors Co. announced Thursday it will sell a majority interest in its European Adam Opel AG and Vauxhall units to a consortium comprised of Canada's Magna International Inc. and Russia's Sberbank.
But a key aspect not prominently discussed in GM's months-long process to shed its currently unprofitable European operations: The company will retain a significant 35 percent interest.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:19 PM under Companies , GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Tries "If You Find a Better Car, Then Give Ours Back"
General Motors will launch a marketing campaign it calls "May the Best Car Win" that offers buyers of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles a 60-day money-back guarantee.
The promotion will kick off with an advertising blitz on Sunday during morning news shows and NFL football games. The ads will feature GM's chairman Edward Whitacre.
Though GM has not provided advanced viewing of the advertisements, there's a hint of deja vu from Chrysler's first emergence from bankruptcy when then-Chairman Lee Iacocca challenged American consumers to buy Chrysler cars with the tag line: "If you find a better car, buy it."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:57 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
U.S. Taxpayers Can Kiss Some GM, Chrysler Loans Good-Bye
An independent panel overseeing the government's loans to General Motors and Chrysler has revealed that U.S. taxpayers probably won't be entirely paid back by the two just-out-of-bankruptcy automakers.
The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), in its latest report issued Tuesday, said it is highly unlikely that the government will recover all of the $81 billion in loans to the auto industry. The panel did not say exactly how much in total it expected to recover.
The report did say Chrysler is "highly unlikely" to repay $5.4 billion of its $15 billion in government loans, and GM probably will pay back little of the initial $19.4 billion of its total $50 billion in government loans. In a statement, GM insisted it intended to pay back the loans.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:50 AM under Chrysler , Companies , Featured , GM , News | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ongoing Payback of Government Bailouts Will Focus Scrutiny on GM, Chrysler
Since early this summer, a handful of the nation's large banks starting paying back their share of emergency bailout loans taken under the controversial, $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program fund created by the Bush Administration last year. T
It was reported recently that eight major banks and investment firms that received TARP loans have repaid - and that the U.S. Department of Treasury's profit was about $4 billion and a tidy 15-percent return on the investment.
Although the money repaid represents only a small portion of the TARP funds extended to scores of banks large and small, some banks' prompt repayment is certain to lead the discussion to General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, two non-banks - along with their closely-aligned financing operations - that were extended a collective $65 billion in TARP funding.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:59 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Unnecessarily Viral Story of the Week: GM Volt Buyers 'Idiots'
Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen said to a reporter last week something to the 
effect of "people who want to buy Chevrolet's Volt (General Motors Co.'s endlessly hyped extended-range electric vehicle) are idiots."
Strong sentiment, to be sure. But worthy of the Internet firestorm the remark (in whatever form) fueled through the Labor Day weekend? Hardly. Auto industry and media: get a life. Relax. Enjoy a holiday every now and then.
There is something about the Volt - and what it represents as an environmental statement - that some think makes it above reproach. As de Nysschen discovered, criticism of the Volt often is interpreted as a political incorrectness manifesto.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:51 AM under Commentary , Companies , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
'Small' Could be the New 'Big' of the Pickup Market
Maybe America's love affair with pickup trucks isn't over. It's just getting smaller.
In both size and volume.
The recently ended federal Cash for Clunkers incentive was a giant boost for fuel-efficient cars. They dominated the top 10 list of new vehicles purchased by those trading clunkers. But if August sales reports are any indicator, more than a few of those Cash for Clunkers vouchers were used to buy midsize (formerly "compact") pickups.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:40 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, eBay Extend Promotion; Edmunds.com Advises Consumers Make an Offer
General Motors and eBay Motors announced Tuesday they were extending their promotion that allows consumers to shop and start the buying process for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Pontiac vehicles voluntarily listed by the automaker's California dealers. The promotion, launched Aug. 11, was to expire Sept. 8 but has been extended through Sept. 30. It could eventually be rolled out nationally.
Meantime, Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com, has analyzed pricing of GM vehicles on eBay and is advising consumers to avoid the "Buy It Now" pricing option. Instead, consumers should choose the "Make an Offer" option. Otherwise, they are apt to pay too much.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:05 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Post-Clunkers Second Half Becomes Huge Sales Question Mark
The U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers program finished its job in August, boosting industry-wide U.S. sales to 1,261,799 vehicles, a 1.3-percent increase from a year earlier and a 26.7-percent boost from July, as American consumers rushed dealerships to turn in their well-used vehicles for more fuel-efficient new ones.
Automakers revisited long-abandoned, almost heady levels of sales, with the August results translating into a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 14.1 million units - equivalent to a yearly pace about five million units faster than the sales rate for the first half of this year, and much higher than the 10.5-million to 11-million-vehicle pace that industry executives still expect to prevail for the rest of 2009.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:57 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Automakers Spend Less on August Incentives, Thanks to Cash for Clunkers
With American taxpayers footing the bill for Cash for Clunkers, automakers were able to lower their spending on incentives in August. And, in fact, automakers may still have paid more than they needed to in incentives.
The average automotive manufacturer incentive was $2,475 per vehicle for every vehicle sold in August, Edmunds.com estimates. That's down $231, or 8.5 percent, from July and down $327, or 11.7 percent, from August 2008, continuing a downward trend of several months.
"The industry spent a record $3,165 per vehicle in March, but ever since then, incentives have continuously fallen," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com's director of Industry Analysis.
However, the story may change in the coming months, she added, with the Cash for Clunkers program over, vehicle inventories low due to production cutbacks and brisk clunker sales. But now, factories are ramping up production to fill up the pipeline again -- production that may come into a market that isn't in the mood for buying.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:36 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Saab Unveils New Flagship
It's leaving the General Motors Co. empire by the end of this year, but GM nonetheless issued the press material detailing Saab's next-generation 9-5 flagship, a car that goes on sale next year after Saab effectively is no longer under GM management. The car will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show next month.
Although there are well-executed Saab-esque design details, including a feint at the Saab-signature wraparound windshield and an angular sideglass/C-pillar junction reminiscent of the 900 Series, the bodysides betray a hint of Buickness that shouldn't surprise: the all-new 9-5 is built around the GM global midsize architecture on which rides the new Buick LaCrosse, not to mention Europe's well-received Opel/Vauxhall Insignia.
Leveraging the global midsize underpinnings means the new 9-5 is markedly larger than the current flagship, some five inches longer in wheelbase and nearly seven inches longer overall.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:24 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Toyota Closing Nummi In March; Tacoma to Texas
Toyota Motor Corp. announced late Thursday it will end its production contract at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. assembly plant in Fremont, CA, next March, shifting assembly of NUMMI-manufactured Tacoma midsize pickups to Toyota's recently built plant in San Antonio, TX.
The NUMMI facility was a joint-venture operation between Toyota and the General Motors Co., but in June, just prior to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, GM said it was vacating the NUMMI operation and leaving its ownership in the venture with the "old" GM.
GM did not see a future for NUMMI and shortly thereafter Toyota also began to send signals it, too, might abandon the venture that began in 1984. GM ended production of the Pontiac Vibe (a badged variant of the Toyota Matrix) on Aug. 17.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 5:36 PM under Business , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
August Car Sales: Wild Roller Coaster Ride
Thanks to the government's Cash-For-Clunkers program, new-vehicle sales bounced around throughout the month of August, one of the most volatile periods in automotive history. Edmunds.com predicts the annualized sales rate could land at just more than 13 million for the month.
"Cash for Clunkers sent the sales rate on a wild roller coaster ride," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. She said the Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR) of sales exceeded 19 million in late July - the peak of Cash-For-Clunkers selling - and fluctuated around the 15-million mark in early August. But the SAAR has plunged to an 8-million rate in the post-Clunkers final days of the month.
"Ending August on such a low note does not bode well for September," Caldwell warned.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:48 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Post 'Clunkers,' Automakers Raising Production - Carefully
Prior to the Cash-For-Clunkers sales explosion, the last thing automakers would have considered was increasing production in their North American factories.
In answer to the worst industry sales slide in more than a generation, most had for more than a year being doing just the opposite - slashing production schedules - in an attempt to reduce bloated inventories suddenly and catastrophically out of line with consumer demand.
But Cash-For-Clunkers changed all that: in just four weeks, the federal incentive program squeezed more than a half-million buyers into showrooms. So much for that troublesome inventory.
Now the auto industry has to deal with the wholly unpredicted consequence of Cash-For-Clunkers' success: almost overnight, nobody has enough new vehicles to sell. And the equally ironic solution: raise production.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Accelerating Decision on Opel?
Just days after the General Motors Co. board of directors countered the company's management and ordered a reexamination of the favored bid to take majority ownership of GM's Adam Opel AG and most of the company's associated European operations, reports from Europe say GM may announce within a matter of days -- or even hours -- the course it will take with Opel.
GM's abrupt reversal in the months-long process that seemed to be proceeding toward selling Opel to a consortium led by Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. riled sensitive German politicians and the country's powerful labor unions, all of whom had made it clear they preferred the Magna bid -- which seeks to minimize German job losses -- to the rival offer from Belgium's RHJ International.
GM's about-face last week, in which it announced the board effectively told company leaders to reconsider GM's options, seemingly signaled to the German interests that GM now might be trying to hedge in light of improving auto-industry and economic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:38 PM under Business , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Honda Increasing Production but Won't Attach Number
Reports from Japan earlier this month indicated Honda Motor Co. Ltd. -- like other automakers with models that proved popular in the just-ended Cash for Clunkers new-vehicle rebate program -- is planning to increase production to replenish starved U.S. inventories.
But a Honda spokesman told AutoObserver today the company won't detail the amount of its production increase.
"We're not attaching figures yet to our production," said the Honda spokesman, adding that the company doesn't expect to forecast production for the remainder of the year.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Readies Break With Four Divisions, but Opel Intrigue Continues
With the news-dominating Cash for Clunkers program now officially finished, the auto industry can get back to normal: battling U.S. and global recessions and trying to figure out who's going to own half of the former divisions of General Motors Co.
The last month's news was devoted almost exclusively to Cash for Clunkers, so anybody could be forgiven for not being caught up on what's been happening with the sales of GM's Hummer, Saturn, Saab Automobiles and Adam Opel AG divisions. Here's the updated scorecard:
Opel
Suddenly, Opel is GM's problem child.
The company's board last week slapped down the bid from a consortium led by Canadian mega-supplier Magna International Inc., a deal that was favored by GM's management and had the vital blessing of the German government, which was to provide billions in assistance in exchange for Magna's vow to minimize job losses.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Board Brushes Off Magna Bid for Opel
The newly reconstituted board of directors for General Motors Co. might turn out to be a little more "activist" than originally presumed.
The Wall Street Journal reported late last week the new GM board has rejected the bid of management's favored suitor for the company's Adam Opel AG automaking unit.
A consortium headed by Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. has been vying with RHJ International, a Belgian investment firm, for control of Opel, but GM leaders and much of the German government have long been reported to favor Magna, which for one thing resolved to minimize job losses in Germany, the main base of operations for Opel and the other portions of GM's European operations up for sale.
Over the weekend, Reuters reported German Chancellor Angela Merkel as expressing a need for urgency in the situation.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:05 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Payback Fiasco, Dealers Will Regret End of Cash for Clunkers
The much-examined Cash for Clunkers new-vehicle rebate program ends August 24 and the armchair quarterbacking has already started. Most evaluations of the program will focus on the government's inability to quickly process applications and reimburse dealers for the $3,500 or $4,500 rebates given to buyers.
The backlog of payments certainly affected dealer cashflow, particularly for smaller operations.
But according to new data from Edmunds.com, dealers (and automakers, ultimately) did enjoy more than a few offsetting perks: Besides hiking sales volumes, the Cash for Clunkers program, along with the resulting accelerated reduction of new-vehicle inventories, was responsible for immediately jacking up average transaction prices, margins -- and dealer profit.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 2:00 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , Ford , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
It's Dealers Versus DOT as "Clunkers" Program Set to Close
No auto dealer is complaining about the extra customer traffic the Cash for Clunkers program has generated in the past weeks. But although the federal program has been a solid lifeline in what surely would have been a dead summer for sales, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is amounting to the ultimate in profitless prosperity for too many dealers.
Complicating the situation, data from Edmunds.com indicates that with the program nearing its conclusion - just announced to be Monday, Aug. 24 - Cash for Clunkers transactions are slowing markedly from highs of 40 percent or more of all new-vehicle sales to less than one in five new-car deals.
Despite the CARS program's undeniable invigoration of previously tomblike showrooms, angry and dispirited dealers across the nation said they had no choice but to give up on Cash for Clunkers participation. The government was so slow in repaying the $3,500 or $4,500 rebates they literally couldn't afford to keep selling new vehicles.
The government foot-dragging was so endangering the final days of the CARS program that General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and others stepped in today to say they will provide cash advances on Cash for Clunkers transactions so dealers don't have to wait for the feds to pay up.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:18 AM under Analysis , Business , Featured , GM , In the Media , News | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Cancels "Vue-ick" Crossover
Barely a week after showing it and many other pending new models and concept vehicles to the media and a select group of the public, General Motors Co. is pulling the plug on a Buick variant of the Chevrolet Equinox/GMC Terrain compact crossover the company only first confirmed weeks ago it would build.
The company announced the new Buick crossover just last month during a high-profile industry conference at which the recently-emerged-from-bankruptcy GM seemingly sought to generate some positive news. So the company said Buick -- the brand's minders still flush with the comparative success of the Enclave full-size crossover -- would try again to catch lightning in a bottle with its own model based on GM's global compact crossover architecture.
Better still, Buick would launch a plug-in hybrid variant in 2011, allowing GM to get some green mileage from the investment it made in the plug-in technology originally intended for the Saturn Vue version of this crossover family.
All that was before the media and GM's hand-picked "civilian" viewers got a look at the still-unnamed Buick, though.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:26 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM To Add 60K Units Through End of the Year
General Motors Co. confirmed it is boosting production of several models to restock depleted inventories of vehicles popular in the ongoing Cash for Clunkers rebate program and to address "consumer reaction" to new 2010 models such as the Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac SRX and CTS Sport Wagon and the Buick LaCrosse.
GM says it will add production shifts at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant that produces the Chevrolet Cobalt, a popular choice for buyers replacing a "clunker," and at its CAMI facility in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, that assembles the new 2010 versions of the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain compact crossovers. The company also will add overtime and reinstate previously scheduled downtime at other plants.
In all, GM said it expects to add about 60,000 units of increased production -- the bulk coming in the fourth quarter, when many of the new models will be well along in their launch cycles.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:43 PM under Business , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Honda Latest To Boost Production as Cash for Clunkers Resuscitates Small-Car Sales
General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. are the latest automakers to spool up U.S. vehicle production to answer inventories depleted by the ongoing "Cash for Clunkers" new-vehicle rebate program.
GM will add one day shift at the Orion Township, Michigan, plant that assembles the Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan; the plant currently is on a four-day work week. Also ramping up with the addition of a two-shift day will be the automaker's plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that produces the Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars, Dow Jones reported.
GM is expected to announce more production increases as it adjusts a third-quarter output that had been drastically reduced from year-ago levels. In extending the Car Allowance Rebate System, the official name of Cash for Clunkers, from the original $1 billion in funding to a total of $3 billion, the program has put unanticipated pressure on the stock of many of the most popular vehicles purchased by those trading clunkers.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:20 AM under Analysis , Featured , Ford , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New Cadillac GM Pondering the Diesel Equation
WARREN, MI - Bryan Nesbitt has been on the job as Cadillac's new general manager less than a month, and at a recent media event here, the former vice president of General Motors Co.'s North American design isn't afraid to admit he's still getting up to speed on direct product issues for the company's premium-vehicle division.
One, he told AutoObserver, is diesel engines.
GM product-development higher-ups are adamant that diesels are too costly for the U.S. market. They require complex and expensive exhaust aftertreatment ("onboard chemical factories" is one term repeatedly employed) to comply with the world's toughest diesel-emissions standards - and U.S. diesel fuel is not taxed advantageously, as it is in Europe, where diesels have captured more than half of the region's light-vehicle market.
That includes an outsized presence in Europe's premium sector, where diesel has made distinct inroads because of its combination of efficiency and primary technical advantage: huge torque output, the perfect attribute for engines used in heavy and large luxury models.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 12:13 AM under Business , GM , News , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Says Mercury Cleanup Lies with 'Old' Company
General Motors Co. probably won't win many friends who are concerned about pollution from mercury with its position the "new" GM won't continue participating in an auto-industry coalition to recycle the mercury used in many auto components.
Tens of millions of mercury switches were used for lights and braking systems in the 1980s and 1990s and excesses of the toxic metal have been linked to neurological problems in fetuses and children. A large proportion of the switches were in GM-made vehicles.
The auto industry formed the End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corp. (ELVS) in 2005 to stop escape of mercury from vehicles sent to salvage-yard crushers. The ELVS program is slated to run through 2017 and reportedly has recycled 5,600 pounds of mercury from some 2.5 million automotive switches.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:58 PM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
COMMENTARY: Two Dozen New Models May Overcrowd GM's Four-Brand Garage
It's not unusual for General Motors Co. and other big car companies to show the media a 
couple year's worth of pending new models. The difference this week was that GM showed the goods - and allowed reporters to tell all about what they saw.
With the U.S. Treasury Department holding some $60 billion of its markers, GM must quickly convince all its stakeholders the company's got stuff people will want to buy. Good stuff - better than the stuff it insisted was good in the past. The kind of stuff that generates revenue that pays back the kind of debt GM's run up.
Notwithstanding the 230-miles-per-gallon Chevrolet Volt coming next year, GM brags it has some two dozen new-model launches scheduled between now and 2011, but this quantity indicates nothing about the more-important factor: whether a significant number of these new models are winners.
What GM wouldn't allow was photography. But we'll describe with a division-by-division analysis of the new products, most of which are coming by 2011:
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:25 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
U.S. Investor Out of Pending Saab Deal
A controversial U.S. investor and part owner of Koenigsegg Automotive AB - the exotic sportscar maker planning to buy Saab Automobile from the "old" General Motors Corp - is out of the picture as the Koenigsegg Group progresses with its plan to acquire Saab.
Swedish business media report that Mark Bishop, who made a name and a fortune as an investor in securitizing sub-prime mortgages, sold his holding in Koenigsegg to another investor. Tiny Koenigsegg is hoping to acquire Saab by the end of this quarter.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:12 AM under Companies , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Henderson: No "Definition" Yet on Exec Pay
Although General Motors Co. has submitted compensation proposals for its 100 executives to 
U.S. Department of Treasury "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg, CEO Fritz Henderson said Tuesday the GM executives who fall under the still-pending government compensation guidelines effectively are working without knowing exactly how much they're being paid.
"We need to get some definition" about what type of executive compensation may be considered acceptable, said Henderson, who admitted government oversight of pay structure is limiting GM's ability to attract outside talent.
(Read more...)
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GM Sees Cash for Clunker Momentum Continuing; May Increase Production
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson said Tuesday morning that he sees "positive effect" of the Cash for Clunkers program continuing through August and September and, as a result, GM may ramp up production.
Henderson said at a press conference and Web cast that the automaker's new executive committee meeting Tuesday will decide if production should be increased as the government's Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) has depleted inventories of many of GM's models.
Edmunds.com forecasts Cash for Clunkers is running out of steam, though the slight overall improvement in the economy may boost vehicle sales in the second half.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:01 AM under GM , News | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Claims Chevrolet Volt Gets 230 MPG City
General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announced Tuesday morning that the upcoming
Chevrolet Volt will achieve the equivalent of 230 miles per gallon in city driving, based on new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mileage ratings.
Though he didn't give an exact number, Henderson said the combined city-highway mileage will be in the triple digits. The Volt, which has an onboard gasoline engine that recharges the battery -- also rechargeable via a household electrical outlet -- is designed to travel 40 miles on pure electric power. That's the distance most Americans commute in a day.
GM had hinted about the mileage rating through an anonymous ad campaign featuring a 230 mpg with a smiley-faced electrical outlet in place of the 0.
(Read more...)
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Debbie Dingell, Wife of John Dingell, Takes GM Buyout
Debbie Dingell, wife of powerful House Democrat John Dingell, will retire from her long-held post at General Motors.
She was vice chairman of General Motors Foundation and executive director of public affairs and community relations. She is one of many GMers who had to decide last Friday to stay with the new GM or take a buyout to leave the automaker, which is winnowing its executive ranks by at least a third.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:25 PM under GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
California GM Dealers List Cars on eBay
Beginning Tuesday, General Motors dealers in California can begin listing their inventories of
some Buick, Chevrolet, GMC or Pontiac vehicles on online shopping site, eBay.com, in an effort to draw more consumer eyeballs to the automaker's cars and generate sales leads for dealers. GM and eBay executives detailed their partnership Monday morning, after GM CEO Fritz Henderson hinted about it a month ago when the automaker emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Henderson used it as an example of new ways the new GM would go to market.
The eBay venture is hardly groundbreaking. Already, about 30,000 dealers nationwide list their vehicles -- mostly used but some new -- on the site. In fact, GM was the first to coordinate with eBay to list dealer inventories of Certified Pre-owned Vehicles on eBay.
The newest GM-eBay venture is the first "virtual showroom online" by eBay with an auto manufacturer, said eBay Motors Vice President Rob Chesney in a conference call with media Monday. While exclusive to GM now, similar ventures with other automakers are possible, he suggested.
(Read more...)
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Magna Takes Loss, Other Suppliers Soaring
Magna International Inc. is embroiled in a bidding war with Belgium's RHJ International SA to take over General Motors Co.'s European operations, but Aurora, Ontario, Canada's Magna has another hassle in the form of its balance sheet: the company lost $205 million in the second quarter.
Magna's sales for the quarter slumped to $3.71 billion, a 45 percent drop, the company said.
(Read more...)
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GM-Opel: No Done Deal Yet, GM Exec Says
Press reports that a deal is done between General Motors and Canadian auto supplier
Magna International for Opel are greatly exaggerated, the GM executive in charge of the Opel talks wrote Thursday on the company's blog.
"We have had constructive meetings with both Magna and [Belgian private equity firm] RHJ International this week," wrote GM Group Vice President John Smith, who is chief negotiator for the sale of a stake in Opel and Vauxhall in Europe.
(Read more...)
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Cash for Clunkers Drives Consumers to Fuel-Efficient Choices, Edmunds.com Reports
Should the federal government fund a Cash for Clunkers extension, and is it worth the added
$2 billion cost as an economic and environmental stimulus?
Those are the questions the Senate considered this week as it debated the extension the House already passed. Data based on real Cash for Clunker transactions by Edmunds.com shows clearly vehicles turned in as clunkers -- mostly gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs -- would have been traded in at some point even without the program.
However, those vehicles were traded for vehicles that were more likely to be cars than trucks or SUVS and vehicles that deliver better fuel economy with the $3,500 to $4,500 government vouchers provided under the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS).
Further, the clunker plan appears to have had a rub-off effect. The program created a feeding frenzy, with the last week of July generating a seasonally adjusted selling rate of a stunning 19.6 million vehicles. And those consumers buying vehicles regardless of trade-ins opted for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars during the Cash for Clunker program at a higher than usual rate.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:34 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM: Leases To Be Competitive
Barely noticed in the clamor over the Cash for Clunkers effect was that General Motors Co.
announced this week it is reviving its leasing business with a pilot program rolling out for vehicles in each of its four marketing divisions.
The revived leasing program is earmarked to last for just a month.
GM said that just a year ago, leasing accounted for about 17 percent of sales; the ratio has plummeted to around 1 percent thanks to a variety of industry and credit-market travails.
(Read more...)
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Feds: Cash for Clunkers Saving Gas
Pressing U.S. Senators to pass a $2-billion extension to the Car Allowance Rebate System
(CARS) -- the riotously accepted "Cash For Clunkers" program projected to run through its original $1 billion backing in little more than a week - the Obama administration is citing the program's impact on reducing fuel consumption.
A note from the administration reportedly being distributed to lawmakers says the average fuel-economy gain between traded-in clunkers and the new vehicles purchased to replace them is 9.6 miles per gallon -- a 61 percent improvement. Purchased vehicles that improve fuel economy by at least 4 mpg net the clunker owner $3,500. New vehicles that achieve 10 mpg or better than the clunker they replace win the owner a $4,500 CARS rebate.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:55 AM under Analysis , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
Cash for Clunkers Delivers July Sales Spike -- But Now What?
The crescendo of activity in American auto showrooms around the Cash for Clunkers program late last week produced a correspondingly huge surge in U.S. auto sales, and consumers kept scrounging through the weekend for fuel-efficient vehicles to buy under the generous government rebates.
Consequently, sales for all of July for the industry came up only 12 percent short of their level a year ago - when $4-a-gallon gasoline also was goosing shopper interest in fuel-efficient vehicles.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:09 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (9) | digg this | del.icio.us
Magna Submits Improved Bid to GM for Opel
Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna International reportedly has increased the amount of
upfront capital it will inject into its offer for General Motors' Opel. No word on whether its competitor RHJ International has countered.
Unnamed government sources have told various news outlets that Magna is now offering 350 million euros ($700 million U.S.) of its own capital immediately and 150 million euros in a convertible bond.
(Read more...)
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Toyota Retains World's No. 1 Sales Spot
Toyota Motor Corp. held onto the No. 1 position for global auto sales in the first six months
of this year despite being outpaced by General Motors in the second quarter. GM lost its more than seven-decade world reign to Toyota in 2008.
Toyota reported Tuesday it sold 3.56 million vehicles worldwide in the first half that ended June 30; GM sold 3.55 million. In the April-June quarter, GM sold 1.94 million vehicles, due to strong sales in China, compared with Toyota's 1.80 million.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:21 AM under GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Private Equity Firm Rebuffed in Delphi Bid
Something strange happened on the way to bankruptcy court Monday morning: General
Motors Co. and private equity firm Platinum Equity LLC lost out on a seemingly done deal to acquire the assets of long-bankrupt auto-industry mega-supplier Delphi Corp.
The Wall Street Journal reported that several investment funds that owned some $3.4 billion in Delphi debt chose to forgive that debt in a bid to retain Delphi's assets rather than see them auctioned to GM in a procedure that largely would have resembled the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring GM itself undertook.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:24 AM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
COMMENTARY Cart-Before-Horse Alert: Gov Plans Quick Sell of GM, Chrysler Stakes
With a combined $65 billion invested in the turnarounds of General Motors Co. and the
Chrysler Group LLC, the federal government Monday expressed an optimism for those companies' future that would have made their own executives blush: Ron Bloom, new chief of the Presidential Task Force On Autos, said the feds want to recoup the taxpayer dough as soon as possible after GM's planned initial public offering next year.
An IPO? That can generate billions? Next year?
Huh?
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:14 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Featured , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Fills Board, Shuffles Execs - Doesn't Change Much
Not yet a month emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, General Motors Co.'s promised
upper-management transformation begins with - not much in the way of transformation.
There's nobody new from outside the company, a few respected old hands are retiring and the five remaining seats on the "new" GM's board of directors have been filled, although not with anybody who would have been out of place on the "old" GM board.
Anyone searching for "mavericks" would instead do better to procure a supply of recycled Sarah Palin campaign posters - the most excitement to be found in the list of new GM executive appointments is the seeming formation of two potentially volatile factions, one charged with sales and the other ostensibly with marketing.
And the most one might say for "diversity" or different thinking from the five new appointees to the GM board is that two of them are women.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:21 AM under Featured , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Names Designer To Head Cadillac, Report Says
General Motors reportedly will name designer Bryan Nesbitt to head its flagship Cadillac
division, the Wall Street Journal
Reports.
Nesbitt started his automotive design career at Chrysler where he soared to fame for his design of the innovative Chrysler PT Cruiser. GM lured him away where he penned the similar Chevrolet HHR.
Nesbitt then headed design operations in Europe, returning to the U.S. to head North American design.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:12 AM under GM , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Despite Asia-Pacific Strength, Slumping U.S. Pulls Down GM Global 2Q
By Bill Visnic
DETROIT --
There were plenty of offsetting numbers in General Motors Corp.'s second-quarter report on global sales, reflecting the heavy transitions GM -- and the broad industry -- is absorbing.
But GM executives say the overall trends appear positive, despite the company's brief bankruptcy and the quarter's 1.94 million sales representing a drop of 15.4 percent from the second quarter last year.
(Read more...)
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GM Accepts Three Final Bids for Opel
The new General Motors Co. said it has received three final offers for its Opel division in
Germany, without naming the bidders. GM had set a July 20 deadline for final bids.
And then comes the tricky part. GM will examine the bids, present them to the various European government entities who are being asked to help finance the deal and, with their counsel, accept one of the bids.
As the Financial Times notes, however, the best deal businesswise for GM may be at odds with the offer that is in the best interest of the governments, mainly the German government.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:52 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Pontiac G8: The World's Best Car Nobody Was Buying
By Bill Visnic
On the FastLane blog
at General Motors Co.'s Web site, vice chairman Bob Lutz now concedes the company can't make a business case for rebadging the suddenly lamented Pontiac G8 sport sedan, the car that caused a first-week-on-the-job train wreck between Lutz's vision of GM's product-strategy future and that of CEO Fritz Henderson.
Days before and barely hours into his return to GM's salaried-exec payroll, Lutz said GM was going to rebadge the underappreciated, Australia-sourced Pontiac G8 as a Chevrolet, calling it a car "too good to waste."
The pronouncement flew directly against an earlier thumbs-down verdict about the G8 from Henderson, who said he does not favor rebadging and insists every model in GM's line "pay its own rent."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:32 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (7) | digg this | del.icio.us
House Passes Bill To Make GM, Chrysler Reinstate Dealers
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a plan to restore franchise agreements with dealerships canceled by General Motors and Chrysler during their bankruptcy proceedings.
The automakers as well as President Obama and his task force opposed the provision in a spending bill that is part of the 1020 fiscal year budget beginning Oct. 1 and was passed 219 to 208 Thursday.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:53 AM under Chrysler , GM , News | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
Camaro Selling Briskly - but Quality Control Seems Shaky
By Bill Visnic
One of the bright spots in a bleak inventory of sales numbers for the new General Motors Co. has been the 2010 Camaro. GM executives in recent weeks have pointed to the new-age Camaro as the example of how GM can connect expressive cars with customers willing to pay full price.
Luckily for GM, the car has a receptive audience -- after just three months on the market, the Camaro made a major statement by outselling the Ford Mustang in June -- because the Camaro's launch has been anything but smooth, largely due to quality-control issues.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:24 AM under GM , News | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Deal For Opel Moves Closer To Finish Line
Canadian auto supplier Magna International and Belgian financial investor RHJ International
SA are have the inside track for the purchase of General Motors' Opel division as the automaker reviews all final bids in Germany early next week.
GM Executive Nick Reilly said in a Bloomberg Television interview from his Shanghai headquarters Friday that that a decision may come next week and Magna and RHJ are "probably the front runners" for Opel.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:01 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Plant Closings May Not Be Over For GM
By Bill Visnic
When General Motors Corp. announced 14 plant closings or standby shutdowns as part of its bankruptcy restructuring, the news hit hard - particularly for the thousands of workers tied to those facilities.
GM, which emerged from bankruptcy last Friday, has acknowledged its manufacturing empire must be smaller, leaner and meaner to match its emaciated market share as well as its profitable rivals' costs. While 14 facilities sounds like a lot, the move may not go far enough for the consolidation required to align production with the demands of a company with only four divisions.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:17 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Chrysler Still Weak As Ford Could Win Share, Report Forecasts
General Motors and Chrysler will be challenged by weak future product plans while Ford
stands to gain market share with a relatively strong future product plan, a new report says.
Called Car Wars, the annual competitive analysis is produced by Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch and reported on by the Detroit Free Press Thursday, predicts:
- GM's market share losses will be greater than the automaker expects because of its skimpy future product plan;
- Chrysler's weak product pipeline is "an ominous sign"
- Ford's relatively strong future product plan could help it gain market share.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:03 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Ford , GM | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Consumers Find New, Remade Models More Appealing Than Ever, J. D. Power Finds
By Michelle Krebs
Like Sally Field when accepting her Best Actress Oscar, consumers seemed to be saying of
their new and redesigned vehicles "You like me ... you really like me."
Indeed, J. D. Power and Associates 2009 APEAL study, released Thursday, consumer satisfaction with their new and redesigned models at a three-year high. Report highlights include:
- Porsche ranked highest among nameplates for a fifth consecutive year;
- Volkswagen captured four segment-level awards--more than any other vehicle nameplate in 2009;
- new and redesigned models scored higher than last year's new and redesigned models and higher than this year's carryover models.
- seven new and redesigned models ranked highest in their respective segments: Dodge Challenger; Ford F-150; Ford Flex; Hyundai Genesis; Nissan Maxima; Volkswagen CC and Volkswagen Tiguan.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:07 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Payday For Old GM Liquidators
Old General Motors, now known as Motors Liquidation Co., has appointed another outside restructuring expert to its board and revealed compensation for its execs in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The new-old company is headed by Al Koch, as president and CEO, who will be paid $835 an hour. Koch, is vice chairman and managing director of Detroit restructuring firm AlixPartners. He has been joined by James Selzer as vice president and treasurer; he is also a director of AlixPartners. He will receive $555 an hour.
They will be in charge of the sale and liquidation of the old GM's assets, including Pontiac, Hummer, Saab and Saturn.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:13 AM under Business , GM , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mission Accomplished: Auto Task Force Could Be History
This week's departure of Steven Rattner from President Obama's automotive task force suggests the panel soon could be dissolved now that General Motors and Chrysler have emerged from bankruptcy.
The possibly imminent dissolution of the task force suggests what its members and President Obama have insisted all along - but have not been believed - that they do not want to run the day-to-day business of GM and Chrysler
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:59 AM under Business , Chrysler , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Ex-GM CEO Wagoner Retires With $8.6 million
Former General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, who got the boot from the Obama 
Administration in March, will officially retire in August with a compensation package worth more than $8 million in the first five years, the company said in a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
That's substantially less than the $20 million he was entitled to at the end of last year.
Wagoner, who is 56 and spent 32 years at GM, officially retires Aug. 1.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:45 AM under Business , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Auto Manufacturing Could Give Factory Output Boost From 12-Year Low
U.S. industrial production is being dragged down by the lowest auto and auto parts
manufacturing in more than a decade, but it could get a boost from vehicle output as plants crank up production in the coming months.
The government reported Wednesday that U.S. industrial production fell again in
June for the 17th consecutive month to its lowest level since July 1998.
But good news was the drop was smaller than experts had forecasted and it was the smallest decline in more than a year, suggesting manufacturing is stabilizing.
The automotive sector continued to drag down all factory output because of extended General Motors and Chrysler factory shutdowns during their bankruptcies. However, a major bump in vehicle production is expected this quarter.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:20 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's "Mr. Environment" Retires, Report Says
DETROIT - Larry Burns, General Motors vice president of R&D and strategic planning, plans
to retire from the auto company. His departure is the one of many upcoming retirements and involuntary departures as the new GM sheds a third of its top executives.
Burns informed GM CEO Fritz Henderson of his decision to retire a month ago, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.
Dubbed GM's "Mr. Environment" in a 2007 profile by The New York Times, Burns was the automaker's most visible spokesman on green issues, long before it was trendy and often when it was at odds with more traditional-minded executives.
Burns is considered a pioneer in the development of hydrogen-powered fuel cells for vehicles. His group oversaw the development of such vehicles as the GM Hy-wire with its by-wire operations and skateboard chassis containing fuel cells a hydrogen tanks; the also hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Sequel; and the recent Segway-based GM P.U.M.A., unveiled at this year's New York auto show.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:44 AM under GM , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Lutz Already Making 'Em Nuts
By Bill Visnic
The ink wasn't yet dry on Bob Lutz's new contract with the newly constituted General Motors Co. to be vice chairman of, ah, just about everything, and Lutz was back to the business of baiting the media and most likely making his peers and superiors (if he has any) slightly crazy.
Exhibit 1: Lutz - whose job GM loosely and rather unnervingly describes as "vice chairman for all creative elements of products and customer relationships" - had Automobile magazine slurping out of his hand when he tossed out the remark that GM isn't going to let the rear-drive G8 sport sedan slip away with Pontiac when the division shuts down at the end of the year. The G8, Automobile breathlessly reported, will "live on" in the Chevrolet division as a new-age Caprice.
"The last time we looked at (the G8), we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet," Lutz told Automoblile.
The problem: GM CEO Fritz Henderson was widely quoted last month, including here on AutoObserver, as summarizing his product-development preferences by saying, "I'm no fan of rebadging," squarely implying the G8 would not continue under another nameplate after Pontiac's shutdown.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:58 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , In the Media , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (8) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Once Again Owns Delphi
By Bill Visnic
The seesaw saga of auto industry mega-supplier Delphi Corp. is over after coming full circle: General Motors Co. is buying most of the assets of the supplier formed in 1999, ironically, as a way for GM to offload from its balance sheet many very same operations it will once again purchase.
Barely a month ago it was reported GM and a division of the private investment firm Platinum Equity Group would purchase Delphi's assets after Delphi has stumbled in bankruptcy for nearly four years - with Platinum Equity paying more than $3.5 billion to assume much of Delphi's operations and GM taking only strategically vital portions of Delphi.
But it appears the roles have been reversed: GM, just days removed from its own Chapter 11 "quick rinse" bankruptcy and the recipient of an eventual $50 billion or more in government loans, is instead acquiring the lion's share of Delphi - and investing vastly more than Platinum Equity.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:35 PM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM: Fresh Blood Coming From Within
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Fritz Henderson, the president and CEO of the new General Motors that emerged from bankruptcy Friday, lists changing the corporate culture as one of his top three priorities, along with focusing on taking care of customers and producing great cars.
To that end, Henderson said in a conference call with reporters that over the next few weeks, new faces will rise to the top at GM.
"You'll see some unusual names in some jobs," he hinted. "Stay tuned."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:15 AM under GM , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM Goes High-Tech, High-Touch
DETROIT -- The new General Motors will be closer to the customer and will employ high-tech as well as low-tech ways to do so.
Next week, the new GM will launch a "Tell Fritz" Web site that allows consumers and others to send ideas, questions and concerns directly to GM CEO Fritz Henderson.
"I will personally review and respond to some of these every day and will encourage other executives to participate as well," Henderson said at a Friday news conference.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:07 AM under GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Plants To Start Moving Again
By Bill Visnic
Assembly plants for the new General Motors Co. will start to fire up again next week after the newly reconstituted GM left Chapter 11 bankruptcy today and the company completes its traditional two-week shutdown, said president and CEO Fritz Henderson.
The new GM, after leaving many of its plants and other operations with the cast-off assets of the "old" company, should begin to "run our plants on a stable basis going into the second half of the year," Henderson said in a press conference today to announce GM's emergence from bankruptcy and to detail other organizational changes for the new company.
How the company will be organized is important, but the immediate concern is to sell new vehicles in a U.S. auto market that stubbornly refuses to break a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of sales in excess of 10 million units -- the industry sales volume GM continues to say it needs to at least break even selling vehicles in the U.S.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:03 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM Management: Who Goes? Who Stays?
DETROIT -- The new General Motors, unveiled Friday, will be leaner particularly at its top
levels, which is begging the questions who goes and who stays?
The North American management structure is completely eliminated. So what happens to high-level, high-profile executives like Troy Clarke, who had held the post of North American president, and Mark LeNeve, who headed sales and marketing for North America.
CEO Fritz Henderson reiterated 35 percent of the U.S. management, largely at the highest
levels, will be eliminated. Who goes, who stays and what jobs those who stay will hold will be rolled out by the end of the month.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:19 AM under Commentary , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
New GM Experiments With Car-Selling on eBay
DETROIT -- The new General Motors that emerged from bankruptcy Friday is planning
an
experiment with eBay for online car buying.
"We're working on new ways to make car buying more convenient for our customers, including an innovative new partnership with eBay in California to revolutionize how people buy vehicles online," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said at a press conference.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:40 AM under GM , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Lutz Stays On With New GM; Heads All Things Creative
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors' Bob Lutz will stay on with the new version of the automaker as head of not only product development but also GM's brands, marketing, advertising and communications.
Earlier, Lutz, 77, had announced plans to be an advisor through the end of the year when he would retire entirely. He turned over his day-to-day duties as head of global product development to Tom Stephens on April 1.
In his new role, Lutz will report directly to GM CEO Fritz Henderson and will be part of the executive committee. Lutz will work directly with Stephens and Ed Welburn, vice president of design.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:23 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (4) | digg this | del.icio.us
The "New" GM Focuses on Customers, Cars, Culture
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- The world was introduced to the "new" General Motors company Friday, one that is largely owned by U.S. taxpayers and will be focused on customers, cars and culture.
"Going forward, the new General Motors is fully committed to listening to customers, responding to consumer and market trends, and empowering the people closest to the customer to make the decisions," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said at a Friday morning press conference.
"Our goal is to build more of the cars, trucks and crossovers that customers want, and to get them to market faster than ever before," Henderson said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:14 AM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
What's Next for GM's Lutz?
General Motors' retiring Vice Chairman Bob Lutz could be back for an encore performance.
Fox Business is reporting that Lutz will return to GM in a new capacity when it emerges from bankruptcy Friday.
Lutz announced earlier this year that he was stepping down from his day-to-day duties as vice chairman of product development, turning that job over to Tom Stephens on April 1. Lutz was to finish out the year in a senior advisor role until his official retirement at year end.
Still, there had been much hand-wringing about GM without Lutz and who would be the champion for the product. Lutz threw out some tantalizing comments to Detroit's Automotive Press Association in May when he said he would "do something else" and "would not be unemployed."
Lutz is said to be staying on at the new GM indefinitely in a new, yet-to-be-announced operating capacity.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:38 AM under GM , In the Media , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Judge Clears Way for GM To Leave Bankruptcy
By Michelle Krebs
NEW YORK -- A U.S. bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for General Motors to leave Chapter 11 by approving the sale of some of the automaker's assets, including the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC divisions, to a new, largely government-owned company.
Judge Robert Gerber of the U.S. bankruptcy court in New York ordered the approval of asset sale, despite the filing of 11th-hour appeals. GM will close the sale Friday morning and hold a press conference immediately after to provide details.
Judge Robert Gerber wrote in his ruling that allowing the sale was in the public's best interest, by saving jobs and health-care coverage for hundreds of thousands of employees and retirees globally as well as the tax base of communities. "If GM were to have to liquidate, the injury to the public would be staggering," he said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:19 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Exit Package for GM's Wagoner Near
Former General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner will find out in days about his exit package,
the Wall Street Journal
reports quoting an unnamed Obama administration official.
Wagoner, who had agreed to work for $1 a year as part of the deal to obtain federal funding for GM, was forced out of his job by President Obama in late March but technically remains a GM employee.
Pay and benefit packages for executives -- including exit packages for the many executives who will leave -- will be revealed as the "new" GM emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, likely on Friday. Wagoner was eligible for about $20 million in compensation accumulated over his 32-year career at GM.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:40 AM under GM , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
House Committee Votes To Restore Terminated Dealer Franchises
WASHINGTON -- A bill approved by the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives requires General Motors and Chrysler to restore franchise agreements with auto dealerships they terminated as part of their bankruptcy proceedings.
U.S. Rep Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, who sponsored the bill, said the automakers failed to show cost savings associated with having fewer dealers and called the White House backing the elimination of dealers as "un-American."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:32 AM under Business , Chrysler , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Logo May Turn Green
The "new" General Motors that emerges from bankruptcy by the end of this week may well
usher in the event with a new logo -- one that is green instead of blue.
People briefed on its plans told the Associated Press that the company is looking into changing the background color of its corporate logo from blue to green in an effort to show consumers that it is leaner and greener, more focused on fuel-efficiency and better able to make quick decisions.
The wire service reported that Ed Welburn, GM's vice president of design, is leading a group that is studying name and logo changes, but no recommendation has been made yet.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:21 AM under GM , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM's Opel Still Up for Grabs; BAIC Offer in Contention
General Motors is seriously considering an offer for its Opel unit in Europe from Chinese
automaker Beijing Automotive as talks with Canadian auto supplier Magna International and the German government continue.
BAIC made a non-binding offer for Opel this week that requires less government help, cuts fewer jobs and provides for expansion of Opel in China more than an offer by Canadian auto supplier Magna International.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:19 AM under Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Judge Approves GM Asset Sale, Paving Way To Emerge From Bankruptcy
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- A U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved General Motors' plan to sell its "good" assets to a new company and leave "bad" assets with the old one, paving the way for the automaker to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings.
Late Sunday night, Judge Robert E. Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the sale of substantially all of GM's to a new company to be called General Motors Company and to be funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In his ruling, Gerber wrote the sale is needed to avoid "immediate and irreparable harm" to GM.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:42 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (9) | digg this | del.icio.us
From Russia With - Snags?
By Bill Visnic
The Russian connection is becoming a complicated one for General Motors Corp.
GM, emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. while simultaneously working to offload its Adam Opel AG division and operations in Europe, looked to have sealed the Opel deal with a consortium including Canada's Magna International Inc. and Russian automaker GAZ.
But last week, it appeared the presence of GAZ was a fly in the ointment, as GM (and perhaps other interests) reputedly balked at GAZ gaining access to certain GM technologies via the Opel purchase.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:38 AM under Analysis , Companies , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Feds: No More Dough if GM Bankruptcy Not Final by July 10
By Bill Visnic
It may not come exactly on the Fourth of July, but the Obama administration is directly threatening some of its own fireworks -- the financial kind -- if the ever-quickening pace of General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy procedure isn't concluded by July 10.
That's barely six weeks since the automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:17 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Led by Surging Ford, June Sales Ratcheted Reassuringly
By Dale Buss, Michelle Krebs and Bill Visnic
Automakers expressed more optimism about the U.S. car market despite the fact that overall sales in June fell by 28 percent compared with a year ago, to 859,420 vehicles. That represents only a slight improvement in year-ago comparisons over results for the first five months of this year.
Jesse Toprak, executive director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com, characterized the month cautiously. "It means, if nothing else, that things are not getting any worse, although things are not getting that much better, either. There was a lot of volatility, but there were signs of life."
Toprak added that June was "probably the best retail-demand month of the year."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:52 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Kicks Off Second Half With 72-Hour Sale
General Motors announced a 72-hour sale offering zero-interest financing for 72 months on some 2009 and 2010 models to get the second half off to a quick start.
In addition, GM is promoting its 74 models eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program to kick in later this month.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:48 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Bankruptcy: "Bad" GM Wind-Down To Cost $1 Billion Plus
NEW YORK -- The cost to wind down the "bad General Motors" after a sale of its good assets
to the U.S. Treasury is rising to more than $1 billion, a company representative testified Tuesday.
Albert Koch, appointed GM's restructuring chief who will head the old, bad GM if a sale is completed, testified in bankruptcy court that a wind-down would cost "slightly in excess of $1.25 billion." The funds, more than the $950 million budgeted, will be used to dispose of assets the "new GM" ditches and to pay some creditor claims.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:41 AM under GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
June Is Priciest Ever for Automaker Incentives, Edmunds.com Reports
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Automakers spent more in June on incentives than any June on record, Edmunds.com reports.
The average automaker incentive was $2,930 per vehicle sold in June up $489 -- or 20 percent, from a year ago, Edmunds.com estimates. Incentives were down a scant $22, or 0.8 percent, from May.
"June incentives have never been higher, but we anticipate that the tide is about to turn," said Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com's executive director of Industry Analysis. "The effects of recent production cuts are starting to be felt, and as supply dwindles, incentives will fall."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:42 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Magna Deal for GM's Euro Operations Souring?
Although it has for some time enjoyed a preferred-bidder status to buy Adam Opel AG and the European operations of General Motors Corp., the grip of Canada's Magna International may be slipping.
The Financial Times
reports GM is weighing a restructured offer from Belgian holding company RHJ International after detailed negotiations with Magna and its consortium partners became snarled by new conditions.
The Magna-led consortium includes Russia's second-largest automaker, GAZ, and the FT reports the group's offer to GM includes conditions that allow access to certain GM technologies, some of which GAZ seemingly intends to wield for Opel-based vehicles built in Russia.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 1:01 PM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Automakers Hopeful for Some Sales Rebound in June
The industry remains cautiously optimistic June vehicle sales in the U.S. will hit a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 10 million units for the first time in 2009, a milestone analysts think may indicate the deep freeze in auto sales is at least beginning to thaw.
Automakers will report June sales on Wednesday, and Ford Motor Co. chief sales analyst George Pipas told reporters the company believes total industry sales will see less than a 30 percent decline (compared with the same period last year) for the first time since early last fall.
Ford is confident enough in an improving outlook that it will slightly increase its production for the third quarter -- the first time it's hiked scheduled production since 2007.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:24 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Out in Joint-Venture Plant With Toyota
By Bill Visnic
The status of the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. General Motors Corp.-Toyota Motor Corp. manufacturing joint-venture assembly plant in Fremont, California, is decided:
GM is out.
Speculation about GM's involvement in the NUMMI facility -- opened in 1984 -- began immediately after GM's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on June 1. The two companies currently make individually badged versions of the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe at the NUMMI site; Toyota also makes versions of the Tacoma pickup.
GM announced today its ownership in NUMMI will go along with the company's discarded liabilities in the "old" GM it seeks to form as part of its Chapter 11 restructuring.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:28 AM under Business , Companies , GM , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
"New" GM Will Back Bad-Product Claims
Hoping to mitigate legal speed bumps that might slow its sprint through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the "new" General Motors Corp. will take responsibility for product-liability claims, even for vehicles produced and sold by the company prior to bankruptcy.
The Washington Post
reported the new GM will assume responsibility for all future product-liability claims, a point that raised the ire of some consumer groups and state Attorney's General when it became known part of the company's restructuring blueprint included a plan to shield the new company from any exposure to any liability claims on vehicles the company produced up to the point of its bankruptcy. The objectors said the legal maneuver to shield the restructured GM from such liens was improper.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 6:38 AM under Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
"Good" GM: Maybe Not All That Good
By Bill Visnic
General Motors's Chapter 11 bankruptcy is winding its way toward completion -- perhaps even quicker than the lickety-split Chrysler bankruptcy restructuring. And everybody knows the plan, as it was with Chrysler, is to leverage the now-famous section 363 of the bankruptcy code to create a "good" GM that sallies forth with all of the company's best assets.
In addition to the numerous hard parts -- assembly plants, stamping facilities, powertrain- and other major component-making operations -- the "good" GM will comprise four major marketing divisions: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.
Chevy need make no excuses: it is the domestic counterpart of Toyota, a sales channel for unapologetically mainstream cars and trucks that remains one of the most effective brands on the planet. 
But Buick, Cadillac and GMC? Be careful, "new" GM and Obama Administration Auto Industry Task Force: recent sales and market-share data compiled by Edmunds.com shows these brands may not be the rock-solid foundation for the leaner, meaner GM they've led the company's new taxpayer-owners to believe is coming.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:00 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (9) | digg this | del.icio.us
Maybe Corker Should Have Corked It
DETROIT -- Ah sweet revenge.
General Motors execs obviously won't admit it, but clearly politics played a part in their decision to build future small cars in Michigan instead of Tennessee.
After all, it was Republican Sen. Bob Corker from Tennessee who was among the harshest critics of GM, Chrysler and Ford when they came to testify before Congress last fall about their financial woes.
Corker insisted they should be allowed to go into bankruptcy. He scolded the automakers for doing a poor job of running their business and howled about union benefits. Their business models were unsustainable, he said.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:28 PM under GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Nada for NUMMI, So Far
DETROIT -- General Motors North America President Troy Clarke said the automaker has yet to find a model that is suitable to build at the GM-Toyota joint venture plant in California, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.
GM will stop making the Pontiac Vibe at NUMMI in August as it winds down the entire Pontiac brand. The Vibe is based on the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix.
"We've just not found a product that suitable for NUMMI," Clarke told reporters Friday in a conference call on GM's small car plans. "They've been great partners...and the dialogue continues."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:02 PM under GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Selects Michigan Plant To Build New Small Cars
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors selected the Orion Township, Michigan, assembly plant to build its all-important future small cars that represent "the fastest-growing segments in both the U.S. and around the world," Troy Clarke, GM North America president, said in a media conference call Friday.
Clarke wouldn't flat-out confirm what models will be built at the plant, but it appears the plant's primary product will be derived from the next-generation Chevrolet Aveo (also sold now as the Pontiac G3 and currently built in Korea by GM-Daewoo) with some production of the Chevrolet Cruze also possible at the facility.
Clarke insisted the widely speculated Chevrolet Spark, an A-class size that is smaller than the Aveo and Cruze, will not be made at the plant.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:40 AM under Featured , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Volkswagen May Partner With Suzuki
German automaker Volkswagen reportedly is seeking a partnership with or stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., various global media outlets are reporting.
The buzz is Volkswagen would take a 10 pecent stake in Suzuki, which has seen its stock rise dramatically in recent days on the news.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:35 AM under Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM To Announce Michigan Gets Its Small Car Plant
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors will announce later Friday that its future small car, likely the Chevrolet Spark, will be built at a Michigan plant and not plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, or Janesville, Wisconsin.
GM President North America Troy Clarke will host a media conference call Friday afternoon to make the official announcement, although word already had leaked out by Thursday's evening news.
The Orion Township, Michigan, plant, located in the Detroit suburbs, assembles the Pontiac G6 sedan, which will be discontinued when the entire Pontiac division is eliminated at year-end. The plant then added production of the popular Chevrolet Malibu, which is also made at a Kansas plant.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:22 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM: Opel Fallback Being Negotiated
General Motors has a tentative deal for Canadian-Austrian auto parts supplier Magna International for GM's German subsidiary, Opel. But, just in case, GM apparently is negotiating backup plans.
GM may sign non-binding agreements with RHJ International, a Belgian industrial company that originally bid for Opel, and Chinese automaker, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., which assembles Jeep and Hyundai vehicles in China, to take on Opel, Bloomberg News reported.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:00 AM under Companies , GM , Rumors | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Supplier Lear Preparing To File Bankruptcy, Report Says
DETROIT - One of the world's largest auto-parts suppliers, Lear Corp., is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as next week, sources have told the Wall Street Journal.
Industry experts have predicted that as automakers bring assembly plants back onstream after summer shutdowns and inventory-adjustment shutdowns, cash-strapped suppliers will not be able to come back onstream.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 1:55 PM under Companies , GM , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
June Sales To Hit 10 Million SAAR; Detroit Share Improves, Edmunds.com Forecasts
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - June vehicle sales will hit their highest level of 2009 with a
Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate of 10.1 million when manufacturers report them Wednesday, Edmunds.com
forecasts.
"The SAAR is finally back in double-digits," observed Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com's executive director of Industry Analysis. "We're still a long way from 16 million unit sales, but things are moving in the right direction.
General Motors and Chrysler, which both were in Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the month, are expected to post market share gains in June compared with May, proving yet-again -- contrary to conventional wisdom -- that consumers will, indeed, buy cars from a bankrupt manufacturer, at least in these current tumultuous times.
Honda and Hyundai also are forecasted to show May-to-June market share gains. The gains come at the expense of share declines for Ford, Nissan and Toyota. Despite Ford's dip, the share for Detroit automakers is estimated to come in at 47.0 percent in June, up from 46.6 percent in June 2008 and from 46.5 percent in May.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:45 AM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Chrysler Models Top List of Slowest Sellers, Edmunds.com Reports
Vehicles sold by General Motors and Chrysler, both of which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
in recent months, dominated a list of the 15 slowest sellers in May, according to an analysis by Edmunds.com
, parent of AutoObserver.com
.
Of the 15 slowest-selling vehicles, 12 were made by American automakers. GM and Chrysler dominated the list. Ford had one vehicle on the list - the Mustang.
"It's really a reflection of a misstep of the American automakers," Edmunds.com analyst Jessica Caldwell.
Models from Korean brands, Kia and Hyundai, rounded out the list of 15 slow sellers.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 2:36 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Ford , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM CEO Henderson "No Fan" of Rebadging, but...
By Bill Visnic
During a recent Webcast with reporters, General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson said that when the Pontiac division turns out the lights at year-end, its critically acclaimed G8 sedan won't be picked up by any of GM's four remaining brands.
The CEO added: "I'm not a fan of rebadging."
If that's one of the reasons the G8 won't be seen wearing another division's crest, then Henderson has long suffered his distaste for rebadging: almost from its origin, GM's modus operandi has been rebadging, probably the most callous examples coming in the 1980s, when precious little in the way of genuine engineering differentiated one brand's vehicle from another.
And rebadging looks to be at least part of the modus operandi of the "new" GM to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:59 AM under Commentary , Featured , GM , In the Media | Comments (15) | digg this | del.icio.us
Vehicle Quality Improves Despite Bumpy Financial Ride
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- The financial turbulence of the global auto industry has not hurt vehicle quality. Quite the opposite, according to new data released Monday by J.D. Power and Associates.
"Vehicle quality is better than it has ever been," Dave Sargent, J.D. Power's vice president of automotive research, told the Automotive Press Association here as he announced the results of the 2009 Initial Quality Study. The study measures defects reported by buyers in the first 90 days of ownership.
"There's a positive disconnect. There's no correlation between the financial side of the business and the production side," said Sargent. "Despite the turbulence on the business side and concern for the future of their own jobs, the people who design and build vehicles are getting on with their jobs and keeping their eye on the ball. That's remarkable."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:49 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Companies , Featured , Ford , GM , News , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Pontiac Vibe Done in August
DETROIT -- General Motors declared the end of the Pontiac Vibe in August.
GM, as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, will eliminate the Pontiac division entirely by the end of the year.
However, GM will end the production of the Vibe, which is built at a GM-Toyota joint venture plant known as New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) in Fremont, California. The Vibe shares its underpinnings with the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix.
GM says it is in "active discussions regarding potential future production at NUMMI." Toyota reportedly has been considering building the Prius hybrid there.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:38 PM under GM , Toyota | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
New Incoming Rounds in Hybrid War
By Bill Visnic
When gasoline prices plunged early this year, sales of hybrid-electric vehicles went South, too.
Quickly.
The timing may be unfortunate, but major hybrid players Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. launched new hybrids this spring -- and both seem determined to grub out a larger portion of the yo-yoing hybrid market. That battle, the latest summertime jump for gasoline prices and the U.S. auto market's continuing gyrations are once again cranking up the attention on hybrids.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 8:51 AM under Analysis , Business , Companies , GM , Technology , Toyota | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Miata Designer Matano, T. Boone Pickens Part of Start-Up Car Company
MONROE, La. -- Mystery solved. Or at least the players behind it.
Mazda Miata designer Tom Matano and Texas billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens are key figures behind a car plant being established in Louisiana to build environmentally friendly vehicles by a start-up company that has never before built cars.
V-Vehicle Co., of San Diego, is a start-up company being financed by California venture capitalists. Its CEO is Frank Varasano, a former executive vice president of Oracle Corp. who is described as the project's visionary.
Company chairman is Ray Lane of the California venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, which has been extensively involved in environmentally friendly projects and companies, including Fisker Automotive. John Doerr, a managing partner with the California venture capital company, is a V-Vehicle board member. Former Vice President Al Gore recently joined the firm. Matano will direct design.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:23 PM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Washington to Auto Suppliers: No More Money
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Treasury turned down a request by auto suppliers for additional financial aid, saying it believes the supply chain is stable enough without immediate assistance -- and besides it isn't the government's role to interfere in the contraction of the supplier market.
Two trade associations representing suppliers had asked for the government to guarantee between $8 billion to $10 billion in loans so banks will lend to the suppliers. That's in addition to the $5 billion the government provided to suppliers earlier this year. Those funds are administered through automakers.
President Obama's auto task force, however, did say it would step in if the supply chain unravels and vehicle assembly plants are forced to close due to parts shortages.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:23 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Americans Want Government Out of GM, Chrysler Quickly, Poll Says
Eight of 10 U.S. voters want the federal government to sell its stake in General Motors and Chrysler as soon as possible, according to a telephone survey done by Rasmussen Reports.
The federal government owns 60 percent of GM and 8 percent of Chrysler.
In fact, 64 percent of the 1,000 likely voters surveyed over last weekend said they favor a proposal that would force the government to sell their stake in the auto companies within a year. Only about 11 percent of the 1,000 likely voters surveyed over the weekend said they wanted the government to retain ownership.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:42 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM CEO Henderson on Dealers, Clunkers, Exec Compensation and More
By Bill Visnic
In a wide-ranging and comparatively wide-open web chat with the automotive media on Tuesday, General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson confirmed GM has rescinded the decision to close at least a few dealers, is committed to further cutting its executive ranks and believes it will benefit - to a degree - from the still-debated "cash-for-clunkers" legislation.
Henderson took on several questions about the contentious decision to deny franchise renewal to some 1,100 dealers by the end of next year. He said that of the reported excess of 800 dealer requests for review of their franchise termination, GM has relented on 49 and will be done with the review process this week.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:05 PM under Featured , GM , In the Media , Personalities | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Niche Automaker Koenigsegg Takes Saab Off GM's Hands
By Bill Visnic
After months of shopping it and years of unsuccessfully operating it, General Motors Corp. is selling its Saab Automobiles AB division to a tiny maker of exotic cars that will return Saab to its homeland of Sweden.
GM announced Tuesday it has a memorandum of understanding with Koenigsegg Group AB for the company to purchase Saab with the boost of a $600-million funding commitment from the European Investment Bank that is guaranteed by the Swedish government.
In a statement, GM also said it and Koenigsegg will provide "additional support" to fund Saab operations and program investments.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:49 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
Bill Ford Calls for National Industrial Policy, Gas Price Stabilization
DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford Jr., kicking off a National Summit in Detroit this week, called for the U.S. government to establish a national industrial policy aimed at bolstering the nation's competitiveness and to institute a policy that would stabilize "gyrating" gasoline prices.
"The industrial base is eroding and prosperous nations don't let their industries erode," Ford said. "Government, industry and academia all have to be on the same page. Too many times they throw bombs at each other rather than working together."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:30 AM under Business , Chrysler , Ford , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Mystery Company To Assemble Cars in Louisiana
Baton Rouge, La. -- A company described as a well-financed start-up reportedly is close to
choosing a shuttered north Louisiana site to start a new automobile manufacturing facility -- its first, creating up to 1,500 jobs, two elected officials from the region told the Associated Press.
A formal announcement on the mystery company could come Wednesday from Gov. Bobby Jindal, Rep. Jim Fannin told the wire service.
Fannin said the vehicles would be the company's first, they would be fuel-efficient ones and they will be built at a former Guide Corp. plant.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:08 AM under Business , Companies , GM , Rumors , Technology , Toyota | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Fat Paydays for GM Law Firms
You knew the lawyers would make out on the General Motors' bankruptcy, and they are.
GM's primary law firm, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, earned $54 million in fees and expenses in the six months leading up to GM's June 1 bankruptcy filing, according to a recent court filing by the law firm and reported on by the Wall Street Journal
. The firm's lawyers are billing GM at a rate of $355 to $950 per hour, the Journal
reported.
And there's more. The paper said much of the $54 million didn't relate strictly to GM's Chapter 11 so more big paydays could be in store for the firm.
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:05 AM under Business , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
In Trucks, Bare-Knuckles Marketing Continues
By Dale Buss
In a throwback to a simpler era, the new Ford F-150's drop-down tailgate step has become an entertaining flashpoint in the marketing war between heavyweights in the pickup-truck segment.
In a current TV ad for the Silverado, Chevrolet's celebrity pitchster, Howie Long, tweaks the addition of the "man step" to the F-150 as an embarrassment -- because it only helps make up for the unreasonably long reach required to get over the tailgate to the bed of the F-150.
But Ford executives assert that Chevy's gambit actually highlights an appealing innovation for potential truck buyers -- and makes them more likely to choose an F-150.
"Our steps have done very well, because they're selling at about 30 percent of the mix of our F-150s," said Doug Scott, Ford's truck marketing manager. "So I hope GM keeps running the ad [in which] they're panning it."
(Read more...)
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:02 PM under Analysis , Chrysler , Featured , Ford , GM , Toyota | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Purchasing Czar Headed for Russia
Bo Andersson, who resigned last week as General Motors Corp.'s group vice president-global purchasing and supply chain, is taking a position with Russia's second-largest automaker, GAZ.
The company said Andersson, who served as GM's top procurement executive since 2001, will be the chief consultant to the Russain automaker's board of directors. GAZ is one partner in a group led by Canada's Magna International Inc. to take over GM's Adam Opel AG and most of the company's European operations, including the United Kingdom's Vauxhall.
The announcement of Andersson's departure came abruptly last week and it was speculated he could be leaving GM to be part of a new management team for GM's Saab unit, which GM also is in the process of selling and currently is under bankruptcy protection in Sweden. Andersson began his GM career as a Saab executive.
The Detroit News reported GAZ as saying there is the likelihood Andersson also will be elected to the GAZ board of directors when the company meets to elect a new board on June 29.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:32 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Playing Own Plants Against One Another?
By Bill Visnic
The political and financial jockeying has started among three General Motors Corp. assembly plants in competition to win the job of building a new generation of compact cars sometime around 2011.
And there is criticism GM -- currently in bankruptcy and earmarked to be more than 60 percent owned by the U.S. government -- is using the promise of the new work to coerce additional tax dollars from the three states hoping to prevail.
The company reportedly has been offered $44 million in long-term tax abatements from the township of Orion, Michigan, site of one of the three competing plants. Countering that are reports GM suggested to Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen the company might choose to build the small cars in the GM plant in Spring Hill -- if the state coughs up $200 million.
(Read more...)
Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:49 AM under Business , Companies , GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chrysler, GM Losing and Moving Execs
By Bill Visnic
The Chrysler Group's bankruptcy is over, General Motors Corp.'s is accelerating like a Corvette and both companies are moving and losing significant personnel in sync.
None of this is unexpected, particularly as Chrysler is sure to be entertaining a certain amount of Fiat S.p.A executive injections now that Fiat is Chrysler's operational owner. And most insiders and industry analysts say GM still has plenty of management dead wood to burn and will see more voluntary separations, too.
GM still dealt a serious surprise when announcing Friday that purchasing chief Bo Andersson is leaving the company. Andersson was generally well-regarded in the supplier community, despite its usually tumultuous relationship with Detroit automakers for the past decade or more. Andersson had a reputation for being demanding and calculating but eminently fair in one of the toughest jobs in Detroit, if not the entire auto industry.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:48 PM under Chrysler , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Rumors | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Joke's on the Auto Sector - As Usual
The auto industry is an easy target for comics and this week's acquisition of the Chrysler Group by Fiat and the announcement of General Motors Corp.'s new chairman added new fuel to the comedic pyre.
Two of this week's best:
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:02 AM under Chrysler , Commentary , Companies , GM | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
Chevrolet Ready To Be Lead Horse in GM Revival
By Bill Visnic
PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Through the months of the unfolding General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy story, one plotline has been clear and unwavering: the Chevrolet brand will be the backbone -- and linchpin -- of GM's attempt to restructure and revitalize with a lot fewer brands and a lot smaller operational footprint.
At an event this week to launch the new 2010 Equinox compact crossover, Chevrolet North America Vice President Ed Peper reiterated GM isn't planning to wear the bankruptcy label for long, and added that Chevrolet is ready to drive GM's recovery. He said Chevrolet is loaded with coming products that should resonate in the new patterns of the U.S. auto market.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:47 AM under Business , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (3) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Picks Koenigsegg as Front-Runner for Saab
General Motors has chosen Swedish luxury sports-carmaker Koenigsegg Automotive AB as the
front-runner to buy its Swedish auto company, Saab, sources have told Bloomberg News
.
Bloomberg's source said Koenigsegg was chosen because it committed to invest in restructuring Saab and because it's a carmaker.
Other bidders included U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert's Renco Group Inc. and Merbanco Inc., a group of investors from Wyoming.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:17 AM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Pulls Plug on 2010 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
DETROIT - General Motors has pulled the plug on the 2010 version of the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid
due to slow sales and high inventory levels, the Wall Street Journal
reports.
A GM spokesman told the paper the automaker has a "sufficient stock of 2009s" and starting up production in the near future is "possible, but not likely."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:40 AM under Business , GM , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Extends Plant Closures
DETROIT -- General Motors, which last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is extending summer shutdowns at seven plants.
The automaker is adding up to four weeks to temporary shutdowns at plants in: Detroit, Lansing and Orion Township, Mich.; Spring Hill, Tenn.; Shreveport, La.; and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
GM said the extended closures are to lower inventories of unsold vehicles.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:08 PM under GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
Right-Wingers Push Obama Protest Through GM Boycott
WASHINGTON -- Right-wing radio hosts says there's only one choice for conservatives angry
about government involvement in the auto industry: Boycott GM.
"Nobody wants to support an Obama company," Rush Limbaugh told his audience, citing a poll showing that 17 percent of Americans backed a boycott of GM, the Detroit News reported.
Limbaugh didn't outright call for a boycott, but said he understood why people would want to avoid GM vehicles. "They don't want to patronize Obama. They don't want to do anything to make Obama's policies work."
Added conservative host Hugh Hewitt online: "Every dollar spent with GM is a dollar spent against free enterprise."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:46 AM under Business , GM , Personalities | Comments (6) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Names New Chairman: Former AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre, Jr.
DETROIT -- Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., former chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc., will become chairman of the new General Motors that emerges from bankruptcy later this summer, the automaker announced Tuesday morning.
GM's interim chairman Kent Kresa will continue in his post until the launch of the new GM.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:50 AM under GM , News , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Dropped From Dow Average
Monday marked another historic day in the General Motors saga.
The automaker, which last Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has been removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after more than 80 years as an index component.
GM will be replaced by technology firm Cisco Systems. Banking giant Citigroup also is being dropped, replaced by Insurer Travelers.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:02 AM under GM , News | Comments (1) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM To End Medium-Duty Truck Production
DETROIT -- General Motors announced Monday it will stop making the medium-duty
Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC TopKick trucks July 31 as it has found no buyer for the operations.
The trucks are built at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan, which also builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
The factory employs about 2,100 people, with most of its production in pickups. Last year it made more than 22,000 medium-duty trucks for GM and Isuzu.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:33 AM under GM , News | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
Penske: Envisioning Saturn as a Global Motors
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- Roger Penske's dealership group doesn't hold a single Saturn franchise, but now he's offered to buy from General Motors the whole kit and caboodle.
Penske's vision, as he laid it out in an exclusive interview with Edmunds' AutoObserver.com Friday shortly after GM and the Penske Group announced they had made a deal for Saturn, is twofold: to sell GM-made models in Saturn showrooms while shopping the globe for other vehicles to sell, eventually convincing the offshore manufacturers of those vehicles to make them in the United States.
(Penske announced on Sept. 30 it terminated discussions with GM for the purchase of Saturn.)
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:49 AM under Business , Companies , Featured , GM , News , Personalities , Technology | Comments (5) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Penske Make a Deal for Saturn; Hummer, Opel Deals Floundering
By Michelle Krebs
DETROIT -- General Motors confirmed Friday morning that it has a deal to sell its Saturn brand to the Penske Automotive Group. If completed, the deal would save more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs at Saturn and its retailers in the United States, and would preserve the customer-focused Saturn brand, GM said in a statement.
At the same time, GM's agreement to sell Hummer to a Chinese company is hitting a roadblock with China's government, and Magna's proposed partnership with Opel looks to be floundering.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:15 AM under Companies , Featured , GM , Personalities | Comments (0) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM, Chrysler Defend Dealer Cuts in U.S. Senate
By Michelle Krebs
WASHINGTON -- General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson and Chrysler President Jim Press found themselves on the hot seat yet again in Congress Wednesday as they testified that it is essential to cut thousands of dealers in order to survive.
And once again, much as Detroit Three executives were at last fall's hearings for federal loans, the executives were grilled and skewered by members of Congress. Dealers being put out of business and dealer association executives chimed in as well.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:41 AM under Chrysler , Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (2) | digg this | del.icio.us
GM Scrambles To Clarify Financial-Disclosure 'Tude
By Bill Visnic
Barely 48 hours into its new era as a bankrupt company, General Motors executives hustled to backtrack on a provocative statement from its chief financial officer that also was tinged with an arrogance that could damage the company's need to appear contrite before customers and politicians.
GM CFO Ray Young told the media that thanks to its now-bankrupt status, GM technically is a private company -- and as such is not obligated to make available the same depth of corporate financial information as are public corporations.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 3:41 AM under Featured , GM , News , Personalities | Comments (3) |