Q&A: Young says room for more cuts if market declines
queryvar=”q&a:,young,says,room,for,more,cuts,if,market,declines”;
Jamie LaReau
Automotive News | July 15, 2008 - 4:14 pm EST
GM CFO Ray Young
General Motors announced a plan today that would save the automaker about $10 billion in cash it would have spent [...]
UAW STRIKES SEATING SUPPLIER IN COLUMBIA TN
4:30 PM TUESDAY 7/15/2008
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!
The International UAW, on Wednesday July 15th at approximately noon, authorized a strike at the Johnson Controls Plant in Columbia Tennessee. This plant provides seats and consoles for the new Chevrolet Traverse being built at the Spring Hill General Motors Plant. There [...]
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
GM to cut salaried staff, dividend, retiree health care
The Detroit News
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner today outlined a new round of cost-cutting measures aimed at boosting the automaker’s cash flow by $15 billion.
"Since the first of this year, our progress has been threatened as U.S. economic challenges [...]
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
GM to raise cash, cut jobs
Broad restructuring aims to realign its operations to changing market
David Shepardson and Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will announce today another round of job cuts, cost reductions and other steps to raise cash as part of a sweeping restructuring [...]
VW set to announce U.S. plant location
queryvar=”vw,set,to,announce,us,plant,location”;
Bettina Mayer
Automotive News | July 15, 2008 - 6:55 am EST
MUNICH, Germany — Volkswagen will announce the site of its new U.S. factory later today, a company spokesman said.
The German carmaker has been considering three sites in Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan as potential locations for the plant.
A VW [...]
GM to unveil plans for dealing with U.S. downturn
queryvar=”gm,to,unveil,plans,for,dealing,with,us,downturn”;
Jamie LaReau
Automotive News | July 14, 2008 - 4:30 pm EST
DETROIT — General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner plans to hold a press conference Tuesday to reveal how the company plans to weather the rapidly changing North American auto market.
GM says Wagoner will announce “company actions to [...]
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bankruptcy would be risky business for any automaker
Automakers risk scaring off customers, many analysts say.
Christine Tierney, Eric Morath and Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
Detroit’s automakers have entered a new and darker chapter in their history, with bankruptcy suddenly looming as a possibility because of the severity of the auto market [...]
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wagoner seeks to quell General Motors bankruptcy speculation
CEO says GM has plenty of cash for operations; Stock continues fall amid rumors
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner sought Thursday to quash speculation that the automaker was heading for bankruptcy and said it had [...]
VW sources: Huntsville, Ala., favored for U.S. site
queryvar=”vw,sources:,huntsville,ala,favored,for,us,site”;
Mark Stevens
Automotive News | July 11, 2008 - 5:17 am EST
Volkswagen’s management favors Huntsville in northern Alabama as the site for its new U.S. car plant, Automobilwoche, Automotive News’ sister publication, reported today.
The magazine said Chattanooga, Tenn., which is 102 miles north of Huntsville, is the second [...]
Chrysler: bankruptcy speculation has no merit
queryvar=”chrysler:,bankruptcy,speculation,has,no,merit”;
Bradford Wernle
Automotive News | July 10, 2008 - 2:31 pm EST
DETROIT — Chrysler LLC again sought to reassure dealers on Wednesday that reports of its financial distress are unfounded.
“Speculation has surfaced recently in media coverage of analyst reports suggesting Chrysler might have liquidity issues down the road if the [...]
*UAW: Local GM plant will survive economy slump*
*By D. FRANK SMITH/dfsmith@c-dh.net*
SPRING HILL — Union officials say a fuel-efficient car engine and flexible
manufacturing process will spare Spring Hill’s General Motors’ plant from
the gloom that has spread across the auto industry.
GM has had to adapt quickly to the shifting tides of the consumer market in
recent months. The [...]
Thursday, July 10, 2008
GM’s Lordstown plant to build global Cruze
Fuel-efficient compact car to replace Chevrolet Cobalt
Scott Burgess / The Detroit News
The first Chevrolet built on a new global platform will be called the Cruze and get 45 miles per gallon, General Motors Corp. said Wednesday.
The compact car, which replaces the Chevy Cobalt, will be built [...]
Spanish GM plant to run on sun
FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES • July 9, 2008
General Motors Corp. plans to install the world’s largest collection of solar panels on a rooftop in Spain to supply power to an automobile factory.
The photovoltaic devices will cover the space of about 42 football fields, Carl-Peter Forster, the U.S. company’s head [...]
CAW endorses Hargrove successor
queryvar=”caw,endorses,hargrove,successor”;
Craig Trudell
Automotive News | July 9, 2008 - 12:01 am EST
The Canadian Auto Workers executive board Tuesday endorsed union local President Ken Lewenza as the successor to CAW President Buzz Hargrove, who will retire by Sept. 15.
Hargrove, 64, has led the CAW for 16 years. In March, Hargrove turns 65, the [...]
Chevrolet’s new compact car to be called the Cruze
queryvar=”chevrolets,new,compact,car,to,be,called,the,cruze”;
Jamie LaReau
Automotive News | July 9, 2008 - 4:51 pm EST
DETROIT — General Motors is calling its new compact car for Chevrolet the Cruze, the automaker confirmed late today.
"The name is a derivative of the word cruise," says Nancy Libby, GM spokeswoman.
GM will unveil the production [...]
GM and Ford leaders must ask: What would a good coach do?
BY TOM WALSH • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • July 8, 2008
Today’s rumination is on coaching, both sports teams and companies.
Coaching textbooks are full of bromides about communications and praise. Sometimes, however, a team or person’s performance is so relentlessly bad that almost any praise [...]
It’s a panic — but don’t panic
queryvar=”its,a,panic,—,but,dont,panic”;
Peter Brown
Automotive News | July 7, 2008 - 12:01 am EST
Face it, we’re in a panic. Guys who three months ago were bragging about their Hummer are trying to trade the unsellable bad boy for a Prius or Malibu.
Every auto company is trying to squeeze another mile per [...]
Automotive News | July 7, 2008 - 3:15 pm EST
ENLARGE
The production version of the Chevy Volt could be ready for viewing in September.
DETROIT (Reuters) — General Motors is rushing to [...]
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
GM brands, overlapping models are under review
More salaried job cuts possible; company explores ways to raise cash.
Eric Morath / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. is undertaking an in-depth review of its product portfolio that could include eliminating or selling a brand, but most likely will result in the Detroit automaker purging overlapping [...]
Alabama could get new VW assembly plant
queryvar=”alabama,could,get,new,vw,assembly,plant”;
Bettina Mayer
Automotive News | July 7, 2008 - 8:43 am EST
VW is planning a North American assembly plant, with Alabama being the favorite
Volkswagen’s management board will discuss the carmaker’s planned new North American factory Tuesday, July [...]
With Traverse, Chevy crosses over
queryvar=”with,traverse,chevy,crosses,over”;
Rick Kranz
Automotive News | July 7, 2008 - 12:01 am EST
ENLARGE
Chevrolet is expected to tout the ride and handling, safety and interior space of the new Traverse.
[...]
GM may be mulling thousands of job cuts
Mon Jul 7, 2008 6:48am EDT
(Reuters) - No. 1 U.S. automaker General Motors is planning to cut thousands of white-collar jobs and is considering whether it should sell or stop production of more of its brands, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Both moves [...]
Report: GM mulls job cuts, sale of brands
queryvar=”report:,gm,mulls,job,cuts,sale,of,brands”;
Automotive News | July 7, 2008 - 1:15 am EST
General Motors’ Saab brand has been struggling to attract buyers
LONDON (Thomson Financial) — General Motors could shed thousands of white-collar jobs and sell or cease producing certain brands as part of a strategy reevaluation, said the Wall Street Journal, [...]
Friday, July 4, 2008
GM may bring minicar to U.S.
Sharp market turn has automaker thinking of taking its lineup to smaller extremes.
Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. is reviewing its product range following radical shifts in demand in the U.S. auto market and may even bring a minicar to the United States that was [...]
Analyst: GM could borrow from UAW health care fund
queryvar=”analyst:,gm,could,borrow,from,uaw,health,care,fund”;
David Barkholz
Automotive News | July 3, 2008 - 1:52 pm EST
DETROIT — Could General Motors tap the prospective UAW retiree health care fund for cash?
JPMorgan analyst Himanshu Patel thinks so. In a report and conference call today, Patel said GM could raise $3 billion to $6 [...]
Jean Halliday
Automotive News | July 2, 2008 - 12:25 pm EST
It worked so well, GM extends financing incentive
queryvar=”it,worked,so,well,gm,extends,financing,incentive”;
DETROIT (AdAge.com) — General Motors said its latest incentives on 2008 models will be extended because the promotion worked so well driving traffic in the final days of June.
GM will extend 0 percent financing for 72 [...]
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Slow down, save money: Hurried drivers resist gas-conserving move
Mike Wilkinson and Mark Hornbeck / The Detroit News
Michigan drivers appear to be avoiding one of the few weapons they have to combat record fuel prices: the gas pedal.
On the same day Gov. Jennifer Granholm suggested the state consider lowering freeway speeds to conserve [...]
Thursday, July 3, 2008
GM stock falls below $10
Company leads Dow Index into bear market;’ Bankruptcy is not impossible,’ analyst says
Christine Tierney and Brian J. O’Connor / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. shares sank Wednesday to their lowest level in more than 50 years after brokerage firm Merrill Lynch raised the specter of bankruptcy for the [...]
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Rebuttal
UAW fights to keep good-paying auto jobs
James Harbour, who attacks members of our union for exercising their democratic rights, built a lucrative business as a manufacturing consultant ("UAW gives comfort to Big 3 competitors," June 26).
Harbour is now retired — but just imagine his reaction if one of his clients had told [...]
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Opinion
UAW gives comfort to Big 3 competitors
Strikes help Japanese, hurt promising U.S. vehicles
James E. Harbour
I’ve often wondered what passes for strategic thinking at Solidarity House. The United Auto Workers union says little about this publicly, but it looks like the union is sticking with a familiar theme: brute force.
Historically, this approach has [...]
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Merrill Lynch cuts General Motors rating
Detroit News Wire Services
General Motors Corp. was cut to "underperform" from "buy" at Merrill Lynch & Co., which said "bankruptcy is not impossible" for the largest U.S. automaker, Bloomberg News reported today.
"The key change in our outlook is a much lower forecast for U.S. auto sales that [...]
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Slumping sales cloud Big 3’s prospects
June’s 18% decline tied to high gas, falling asset values; Outlook gloomy as financial pressures increase, consumers sit on sidelines
Bryce G. Hoffman, Brian J. O’Connor and Eric Morath / The Detroit News
This was supposed to be the year Detroit’s automakers started to turn things around.
Long-overdue restructurings were [...]
GM Leaders:
Like each of you, I see a steady stream of media coverage and receive lots of questions about the continued challenges that GM and all automakers in the U.S. are facing. The rapid rise in fuel prices and change in auto industry sales mix have made market and economic conditions very challenging. We’re responding [...]
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Chrysler cuts back minivan output
Automaker latest to slash truck production as fuel prices shift consumer demand to smaller vehicles.
Eric Morath / The Detroit News
Chrysler LLC, facing plummeting sales of its trucks and minivans, followed its crosstown rivals Monday in significantly cutting production as rising gas prices push consumers toward more fuel-efficient models. [...]
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Auto stocks hit new, old lows
Associated Press
DETROIT — Shares of General Motors Corp. dropped to their lowest level in more than half a century, and Ford Motor Co. stock also tumbled to a new low Monday amid rising fuel prices and the possibility of poor sales numbers for June.
GM shares hit $10.57 [...]
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Brian J. O’Connor
Make buyout worth it
Most of them already have left, but today marks the official end of GM’s latest round of buyouts, with 17,398 hourly workers taking the latest offer.
For GM employees who were eligible to receive full pensions, the $45,000 or $62,500 incentive is a nice bonus to kick off [...]
