auto industry

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Make Romney the Head of GM

 Make Romney 
 the Head of GM 
OPINION
Jun 3, 2009 7:40 AM CDT

Make Romney the Head of GM

Former Mass. governor could turn around automaker, says Bennet

(Newser) - Barack Obama wants to "take a hands-off approach" with General Motors, but as James Bennet writes in the Atlantic, there's no way to get the bankrupt automaker back into shape "without getting under the hood." GM needs someone who can "bring the hammer down" on its...

US Automakers See Sales Increase in May

Ford, GM have best month of 2009

(Newser) - Some actual good news for the auto industry: All three US automakers saw sales of new cars jump from April to May, reports the New York Times. Granted, sales are still way down compared to last year, but the month-to-month leap offers a glimmer of hope among the bankruptcy headlines....

GM Strikes Hummer Deal
 GM Strikes Hummer Deal 
Jun 2, 2009 7:21 AM CDT

GM Strikes Hummer Deal

Buyer, price not disclosed

(Newser) - General Motors has announced a "tentative" plan to sell its Hummer brand to a buyer who could take control by the end of the third quarter, says the Wall Street Journal. The firm didn’t say who was buying it or for how much, but noted that the purchaser...

Bracing for 'Obama Motors'
 Bracing for 'Obama Motors' 
OPINION Roundup
Jun 1, 2009 10:59 AM CDT

Bracing for 'Obama Motors'

(Newser) - GM’s bankruptcy and semi-nationalization has everyone talking. Here’s what the papers are saying:
  • “Welcome to Obama Motors, and what is likely to be a long, expensive, and unhappy exercise in political car making,” writes the Wall Street Journal. The government seems incapable of hands-off management, and
...

GM Fleshes Out Plans to Close, Idle Plants

(Newser) - In the wake of this morning's bankruptcy filing, GM will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others to trim production and labor costs, the AP reports. Assembly plants in Pontiac, Mich., and Wilmington, Del., will close this year; plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Orion, Mich., will shut...

GM Declares Bankruptcy
 GM Declares Bankruptcy 
Jun 1, 2009 7:38 AM CDT

GM Declares Bankruptcy

Obama plans speech outlining firm's future

(Newser) - Once king of the auto industry, General Motors filed for bankruptcy this morning, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm must cut some 21,000 workers and close 12 to 20 factories and 40% of dealerships, adds the New York Times. GM says it owes $172.8 billion and has...

As Rivals Flail, Ford Ramps Up Production

(Newser) - Hoping to profit from its rivals' pain, Ford will ramp up this year's third-quarter production 10% over last year's, in a bid to grab market share from GM and Chrysler as they recover from bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’ll be Ford’s first production bump in nearly...

General Motors: How a Giant Fell
 General Motors: 
 How a Giant Fell 
ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2009 5:13 AM CDT

General Motors: How a Giant Fell

After decades of dominance, automaker blamed others for downfall

(Newser) - General Motors dominated the auto industry for much of the 20th century, and its downfall took place over decades. Many of the attributes GM once saw as strengths, from its rigid structure to its diverse range of vehicles, became liabilities as Japanese competitors sucked away even its most loyal customers,...

Jobless Cling to Their Faith in Detroit

Religions offer comfort as jobless face pain, hunger

(Newser) - Thousands of Detroit's jobless are coping with fear and desperation by falling back on faith, the Detroit Free Press reports. Houses of worship are increasingly fielding calls from people seeking jobs, food, and housing—but above all, congregants say, they find comfort. "When the tension comes and the pressure...

Red Wings Give Hard-Luck Detroit Reason to Cheer

(Newser) - As Detroit reels from the automotive crisis, a much-needed emotional uplift is coming from a dependable source: the Red Wings, currently in the Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. We “are one of the good stories that are coming out of Detroit right now,” a Red Wings...

GM to File Bankruptcy at 8AM, Name Interim Chief

(Newser) - General Motors will appoint Al Koch as chief restructuring officer when the company files for bankruptcy tomorrow at 8am, the Wall Street Journal reports. A managing director at an advisory firm, 67-year-old Koch has attended GM management meetings for months and helped negotiate pre-bankruptcy deals with shareholders and lenders. He...

GM Bondholders OK Debt-for-Equity Plan in Vote

Vote paves way to bankruptcy filing tomorrow morning

(Newser) - GM bondholders voted yesterday to forgive $27 million in debt for equity in the restructured automaker, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move opens the door for a bankruptcy filing tomorrow morning, the New York Times notes. The Treasury Department was in charge of deciding whether enough bondholders backed the...

We Fell Out of Love With Cars
 We Fell Out of Love With Cars 
OPINION
May 30, 2009 12:38 PM CDT

We Fell Out of Love With Cars

(Newser) - Plenty of economists are trying to define what killed Detroit, but they’re looking in all the wrong places. “Fire the MBAs and hire a poet,” writes PJ O’Rourke in the Wall Street Journal. This isn’t a story of unions or financial crisis. “It’s...

UAW Overwhelmingly Backs GM Concessions
 UAW Overwhelmingly 
 Backs GM Concessions 
UPDATED
May 29, 2009 12:56 PM CDT

UAW Overwhelmingly Backs GM Concessions

(Newser) - United Auto Workers members have ratified a package of concessions designed to reduce General Motors' labor costs. Union president Ron Gettelfinger said today 74% of GM's production and skilled-trade workers voted in favor. The vote comes before the company's expected Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing Monday. Bankruptcy experts say having...

GM's Opel, Vauxhall Get a Shot at Survival

Canadian firm wants to buy brands, but deal needs German help

(Newser) - Canadian auto supplier Magna wants to buy GM’s European brands, offering Opel and Vauxhall a chance at survival, the Wall Street Journal reports. A deal for Opel would need temporary German funding. Angela Merkel’s government is debating putting up some $2 billion—but wants GM and the US...

Fiat Pulls Out of German Talks to Buy GM Arm

Prospective Opel buyer balks at new request for bridge funding

(Newser) - Fiat is boycotting talks in Germany today to acquire Opel, the European arm of General Motors, blasting GM for withholding financial information necessary for due diligence and balking at a new request for emergency funding. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has taken part in days of negotiations with GM and German...

GM Will Declare Bankruptcy June 1: Insiders

(Newser) - General Motors will file for bankruptcy protection Monday, insiders tell Bloomberg. The company has apparently decided that it cannot make the government-mandated June 1 deadline to shed $44 billion in debt. The timeline is unclear, but bondholders' agreement today to forgive debts in exchange for a stake in the “...

Bondholders Reject GM Deal; Bankruptcy Looms

(Newser) - General Motors says not enough of its bondholders agreed to swap their debt for company stock, meaning the troubled automaker is almost certainly headed for bankruptcy protection. GM has until Monday to finish restructuring or file for bankruptcy. But the company said today that its offer to exchange $27 billion...

US Likely to Own 70% of Bankrupt GM

(Newser) - If General Motors goes into bankruptcy next Monday—as is widely expected—the US government will own 70% of the automaker, the New York Times reports. Under a plan that GM officials detailed today to union members, the UAW would take a 17.5% stake though its health care fund,...

Would-Be Car-Battery Kings Jostle Over $2.4B From Feds

States seek to become lithium-ion capital of US

(Newser) - Some 165 companies and states are battling for a $2.4 billion Obama administration grant aimed at making the US a leader in electric-car batteries, the Wall Street Journal reports. General Motors, Dow Chemical, and General Electric are among the firms vying for the money; states like Michigan, Kentucky, and...

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