auto industry – News Stories About auto industry - Page 26

Paulson May
Hit Congress
for 2nd $350B
Next Week

Dec 3, 2008 8:17 AM CST

Paulson May Hit Congress for 2nd $350B Next Week

Treasury Secretary will face a tough audience as skepticism mounts

(Newser) - Further erosion of the economy may send Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson back to Congress for the second half of the $700 billion federal bailout next week, reports the Wall Street Journal. But skepticism over how the initial $350 billion is being administered, conflicting views on how to best use the...

Saving Detroit:
It's Now or Never

OPINION

Dec 3, 2008 7:00 AM CST

Saving Detroit: It's Now or Never

Auto industry in danger of going under while lawmakers haggle over lifeline

(Newser) - If Congress is going to save America's auto industry it needs to quit the grandstanding and finger-pointing and take action right now, Tom Walsh writes in the Detroit Free Press. The Big Three have submitted their survival plans as requested, Walsh writes, and the figures show they aren't bluffing—they...

GM Seeks $18B in Aid,
Needs $4B Immediately

Dec 2, 2008 4:02 PM CST

GM Seeks $18B in Aid, Needs $4B Immediately

(Newser) - General Motors says it needs an immediate $4 billion loan from the government to get through the month, the Detroit Free Press reports. “Absent support, we can’t continue to operate,” the carmaker’s COO told Congress. GM is requesting a total of $18 billion in federal aid—...

GM Sales Off 41%; Toyota, Ford, Honda All Down 30%

UPDATED

Dec 2, 2008 1:25 PM CST

GM Sales Off 41%; Toyota, Ford, Honda All Down 30%

Bad times for autos of every stripe

(Newser) - General Motors' November US sales plunged 41%, while Ford's dropped 31%, dashing hopes that the industry-wide drop in vehicle demand might be easing as Detroit's automakers prepare to state their second case for a federal bailout. Their overseas rivals posted abysmal results as well. Toyota's November sales tumbled 34%, and...

Ford Unveils Plan, Seeks $9B

Dec 2, 2008 11:08 AM CST

Ford Unveils Plan, Seeks $9B

Promises to be profitable by 2011

(Newser) - Ford unveiled a new plan to restructure its operations today and predicted a return to profitability—or at least break-even—by 2011, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan calls for aggressive cost cutting and an increased focus on fuel efficiency. One of the costs on the chopping block? CEO...

Big 3 CEOs Head Back to DC—This Time by Car

Dec 2, 2008 8:55 AM CST

Big 3 CEOs Head Back to DC—This Time by Car

CEOs of America's automakers will renew plea for bailout today

(Newser) - The Big Three CEOs are heading back to Washington this week, and this time two of them will be driving, the Wall Street Journal reports—Alan Mulally in a Ford Escape hybrid, and Rick Wagoner in a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid. The CEOs will attempt Thursday to persuade Congress to extend...

Stocks Take Modest Bounce

MARKET Open

Dec 2, 2008 8:48 AM CST

Stocks Take Modest Bounce

Dow up after disastrous session

(Newser) - Stocks headed north this morning, after a grisly Monday that saw the Dow fall 7.7% and the S&P 500 drop 8.9%. Things looked less traumatic today, as the Dow rose a modest 68 points at the open, accompanied by 1.2% and 1.4% rises in the...

No Euphemisms:
Let's Nationalize GM

OPINION

Dec 2, 2008 8:18 AM CST

No Euphemisms: Let's Nationalize GM

Move would boost economy, environment

(Newser) - As Detroit extends its tin cup to DC, the government is making a lengthy list of preconditions and checking it twice. Why not keep things simple and nationalize the struggling GM? Any government loan wouldn’t be big enough, and despite all the misplaced anger directed at the Big Three,...

Finish My
Fight With
Big 3: Gore
to Obama

Nov 30, 2008 6:34 PM CST

Finish My Fight With Big 3: Gore to Obama

We need urgent action, Gore warns

(Newser) - Al Gore doesn't want a White House job, but he does have advice for Barack Obama: Use the bailout plan to transform the Big Three automakers. As vice-president, Gore rolled out a billion-dollar program to pay for fuel-efficient Detroit vehicles—"but as soon as they felt they were...

Scrambling,
GM Offers Equity for Debt

Nov 30, 2008 7:24 AM CST

Scrambling, GM Offers Equity for Debt

Wagoner needs strategy to win federal aid by Tuesday

(Newser) - GM officials are pushing bondholders to swap out the debt they hold for equity in the troubled corporation, reports the Wall Street Journal. The unique strategy represents a last-ditch attempt to stave off creditors and obtain federal aid to survive. A debt swap could leave unsecured debtholders with major losses....

South Short on Sympathy for Detroit's Woes

Nov 29, 2008 6:37 AM CST

South Short on Sympathy for Detroit's Woes

Dixie welcomes foreign automakers and disses Big 3 bailout

(Newser) - West Point, Georgia, looks a lot like Main Street USA but its people aren't overflowing with pity for the struggling American auto industry, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kia Motors is building a plant in the town and residents are looking forward to new jobs and learning to love Korean...

Soaps Slip on Auto Ad Woes;
Even Lucci Takes Pay Cut

Nov 28, 2008 12:20 PM CST

Soaps Slip on Auto Ad Woes; Even Lucci Takes Pay Cut

Dramas cut budgets amid fears of lost advertising

(Newser) - Trouble in the auto industry is causing drama for daytime TV as soaps lose big advertising dollars, Advertising Age reports. Local dealerships are key backers of the shows, which have been in a ratings decline for years. The upshot: trimmed budgets, fewer sets, and dropped actors, including a pair of...

Market Now Runs on Politics, Not Economics

OPINION

Nov 28, 2008 11:15 AM CST

Market Now Runs on Politics, Not Economics

Krauthammer: In bailout era, Democrat fiats are dangerous

(Newser) - Once upon a time, “if you wanted to get rich, you did it the Warren Buffett way,” writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. “You learned to read balance sheets.” That changed with the Bear Stearns rescue. Today, political maneuvering is what moves the markets, and...

'Demand Accountability'
from Citi: Podesta

Nov 28, 2008 10:32 AM CST

'Demand Accountability' from Citi: Podesta

Transition boss discusses bailout, Cabinet

(Newser) - The government should “demand accountability” from Citigroup in return for bailout funding, Barack Obama’s transition team leader says. “If we’re going to have one rule, we ought to apply it to all of the financial institutions that we’re taking a look at,” John Podesta...

Luxury Car Sales
Hit the Skids

Nov 28, 2008 3:01 AM CST

Luxury Car Sales Hit the Skids

Shine wears off top end of auto market as downturn bites

(Newser) - Sales of luxury cars are dropping as fast as their downmarket counterparts, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sales of top-end vehicles plunged 30% last month, spelling major trouble for carmakers who had been relying on fat profit margins on luxury cars to offset falling demand for mass-markets vehicles. Analysts...

Ford Doesn't Want to Cut CEO's Pay

Nov 27, 2008 4:09 PM CST

Ford Doesn't Want to Cut CEO's Pay

Mulally rebuffed $1 salary suggestion, 'OK' making $2M

(Newser) - Though it’s under pressure to trim costs and update its business plan in order to get federal bailout funds, Ford doesn’t like the idea of cutting its CEO’s salary, the Wall Street Journal reports. Alan Mulally made a $2 million salary and $21 million in total compensation...

GM Doesn't Want You Tracking Its Private Jet

Nov 27, 2008 3:05 PM CST

GM Doesn't Want You Tracking Its Private Jet

Automaker asks feds to block public tracking of plane leased for execs

(Newser) - General Motors doesn’t want the public tracking a private jet used by its executives, Bloomberg reports, asking the Federal Aviation Administration to block it from its public service. “We availed ourselves of the option as others do to have the aircraft removed,” said a GM spokesman, though...

GM Considers Axing Brands
to Win Aid

Nov 27, 2008 4:26 AM CST

GM Considers Axing Brands to Win Aid

Pontiac, Saab, Saturn could go on chopping block

(Newser) - General Motors is considering eliminating some of its brands in an effort to win federal aid, sources tell the Detroit Free Press. The automaker, sent back to Detroit by Congress and told to come back with a better business plan, is said to be considering all options, including ditching its...

Automakers Will Get Another House Hearing

Nov 26, 2008 5:25 PM CST

Automakers Will Get Another House Hearing

Panel sets Dec. 5 date; Detroit's new plan due next week

(Newser) - A House committee will hear struggling automakers out on their new ideas for federal aid Dec. 5, the Wall Street Journal reports today, with Detroit’s plan due to Congress’ Democratic leaders by Tuesday. Dems say approval of billions in federal funds hinges on making Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler...

EU Unveils $260B Stimulus Package

Nov 26, 2008 3:55 PM CST

EU Unveils $260B Stimulus Package

Struggling industries, member governments targeted in 2-year plan

(Newser) - The European Union Commission passed a $260 billion stimulus package today intended to boost its members’ economies during the next 2 years, Der Spiegel reports. The plan calls for more funds than most economists expected, but as the commission president Jose Barroso put it: “Exceptional times call for exceptional...