Those were the words of newly-appointed General Motors Chairman Edward Whitacre, Jr. when asked about the challenges he’s facing, charged with infusing some new life into General Motors.
Hardly comforting, don’t you think?
To be fair to the man, it’s not as if he’s a fish out of water in the business world. After all, he’s solely responsible for elevating the status of AT&T as a telecommunications giant. So maybe he doesn’t know the ins-and-outs of the auto industry, but judging from his track record, we ought to cut him some slack and see if he can do for GM what he has already done for AT&T. When you talk to Mr. Whitacre, the newly appointed GM Chairman doesn’t see his lack of knowledge on cars as a burden, but – as expected – a challenge.
"A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old, and I think the business principles are the same."
In the wake of its impending bankruptcy, the Detroit-based car manufacturer is not about to give up without a fight.
Word is being spread that despite having filed for a Chapther 11, GM still opened a battery laboratory that is being lauded as one of the country’s most technologically advanced batt labs. It really does make you wonder what’s going on in the minds of the GM bigwigs surrounding the state of GM and its very uncertain future.
Apparently, these guys have decided that if they can’t sell cars, they might as well keep themselves afloat by being at the forefront of advanced battery technology.
In some way, it’s a brilliant idea because it keeps GM in the loop as far as state-of-the-art car technology is concerned. The batt lab – which should never be confused with the Bat Cave – is located in Warren, Michigan and has been called the Global Battery Systems Lab.
Chalk another one up for the economy, first Joe the plumber and now the General. By the time you read this Chevrolet’s parent company General Motors will be filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. What will result is a substantial investment from Canada as well as the United States that will result in the U.S. Government owning about 60% of the American automotive conglomerate and out neighbors to the north receiving 12% as well. This might be good for vehicles like the Camaro that are produced in the Oshawa Plant, these operations should be getting some renewed interest after the deal.
New car buyers will be directly affected, GM choices will now be limited to their core brand Chevrolet, the luxury line Cadillac, their elderly targeted Buick and trucks for hard working Americans from GMC.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, will address his nation in a press conference regarding the hearing at 11:55 A.M. Current GM CEO, Fritz Henderson, will then address the media about twenty minutes later.
General Motors started a used-car incentive program on Oct. 1 which offered 3.9 percent financing for 60 months on used models of Chevrolet Impala and Silverado, Pontiac G6 and GMC Sierra vehicles. The program was slated to end Jan. 5, yet in an impromptu move GM ended the program early due to the poor credit market.
GM has also announced they are ending automotive lending operations in seven European nations, and scaling back on operations in others. Earlier, GM said financing for vehicles in the United States will no longer be available to customers with credit scores under 700, eliminating roughly 40 percent of customers.
"I think what everybody has recognized is that the market is changing very quickly and we’re looking at availability of credit and it’s just very tight to finance these kinds of programs," GM spokesman John McDonald said.
GM will replace the program Nov. 4, though McDonald did not divulge details.
Like a teenage drag race, it seems the Camaro has stalled in 3rd while trying to overtake the Challenger. Now it also looks like dad is not going to buy a new clutch for the Camaro.
General Motors was looking for about $10 billion in government aid specifically to help facilitate the merger (acquisition) of Chrysler. Although not officially announced, sources involved with the talks have said that the Bush administration is done coughing up cash for the auto industry.
This means GM is now getting shy about courting Chrysler. The door is now open for the other offer on the table, the twenty percent buyout by the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Unlike the GM buyout, which would likely mean the death of most of Chrysler’s products, annexation into the alliance would likely give Chrysler access to new cars. When Renault took a controlling interest in Nissan in 1999 (it was called an alliance to soften the public’s perception of the companies,) Carlos Ghosn, who’s now CEO of both companies, slashed budgets but also shared technology so that new cars could be quickly built at Nissan.
The new problem is that Nissan may not be healthy enough to buy a stake in Chrysler. Today Nissan cut its profit outlook in half. It has reduced production by 200,000 units this year and will trim 3,500 jobs in the United States, Spain and Japan. Renault is already in debt, so it is certain that it will not be able to pay for Chrysler.
This is like Porn for the Chevy lover. Watch as we see a complete build of the Corvette ZR1’s supercharged V8 engine. This is actually footage from building a crate motor, so you can take his home for your project Chevelle. Just try to refrain from using references to inserting large pistons...
This weekend’s story about General Motors and Chrysler merger talks seemed like a shock. But as it turns out, it’s more like closing time and GM is looking to take anyone desperate home from the bar. According to the New York Times, GM and Ford began merger talks in July. When the talks broke down last month, GM turned its bar stool to the other side and started to see if Chrysler wanted to go home with it.
Ford broke off the talks in September, because it seemed to have concluded that it had a better chance to reorganize on its own than in tandem with another automaker. “What we can say is that we are convinced our best opportunity is to continue to integrate Ford and leverage our global assets,” Ford spokesman Mark Truby told the New York Times. “That remains Ford’s focus.”
A GM/Chrysler deal may take a few weeks for executives to figure out if it is advantageous enough to work. Also, General Motors is not the only one trying to take Chrysler back to its bachelor pad. The swinging duo of Renault-Nissan has been lurking in the shadows. It has set up manufacturing deals with Chrysler and is exploring the possibilities of ownership.
The operations of Chrysler and General Motors are not too different in the struggling North America. Unlike a merger with a foreign brand that may have a strength in smaller cars, GM and Chrysler have similar product lines. Their merger would likely mean making people and cars redundant (less employees and less plants.) So while the businesses may survive the tough road ahead, they may be a shadow of their former selves.
General Motors and Chrysler are in merger talks. This is not a typo. The world may soon become filled with Dodge Volts, Hemi Impalas and Chrysler Yukons according to a Wall Street Journal story.
Cerberus Capital Management owns 80.1 percent of Chrysler as well as 51 percent of GMAC Financial Services. The proposal would have a swap of GM’s remaining 49 percent of GMAC for Cerberus’ stake in Chrysler. The talks have stalled because of the recent turmoil in the financial markets, according to the Journal. Its sources said negotiations could resume if markets stabilize because both GM and Cerberus want to quickly divest the assets under discussion.
Besides solidifying General Motors as the world’s largest automaker and changing Detroit’s "Big Three" into the the "Big Two", if this merger does happen some interesting scenarios could take place. The two brands that AM General spawned (Jeep and Hummer) would now be back together. If rumored negotiations with the Fiat Group to build cars at surplus Chrysler plants continued, then GM and Fiat will be back working closely together again.
General Motors has had a very bad week. It announced at the beginning of the week that it was looking to get $500 million by mortgaging its swanky Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit to help raise it’s cash. But that’s now a small concern compared to its new problem. Yesterday’s stock firesale on Wall Street sent GM’s share tumbling to $4.76, which is a 31 percent loss in one day. The stock is now at its lowest price since 1950.
All of this sent credit rater Standard & Poor’s to say on Thursday it could cut both GM and Ford’s credit ratings deeper into junk. It said that both automakers had enough liquidity through 2008, "but the accelerating deteriorating industry fundamentals will be a serious challenge to liquidity during 2009."
But the battle is not over. General Motors sees a tough road but won’t go to the extreme of filing for bankruptcy. "Clearly we face unprecedented challenges related to uncertainty in the financial markets globally and weakening economic fundamentals in many key markets," GM said. "But bankruptcy protection is not an option GM is considering. Bankruptcy would not be in the interests of our employees, stockholders, suppliers or customers."
Just remember the infamous saying: “As goes GM, so goes the country.” So let’s all keep fighting.
It was a simple idea, create a system that heats windshield washer fluid to speed up the process of melting snow and ice off windshields. In stepped Microheat with it’s HotShot system. In September though, General Motors was forced to recall about 944,000 vehicles equipped with the HotShot system because of concerns over electrical fires. GM has subsequently stopped using Microheat’s system, forcing Microheat to cease almost all production and close the company doors permanently. Now the fight is going to the lawyers, GM is suing Microheat for the cost of the recall, which is reported to be in the $20 million to $25 million range. But Microheat is pointing out the fact that GM still owes them 3.7 million for parts and tooling.
By November 1, dealers should have the parts to fix the problem, free of charge, by adding a wiring harness with an inline fuse. Vehicles affected are between 2006-2008 model years and include the Buick Lucerne and Enclave, the Cadillac DTS and Escalade, the GMC Yukon, Sierra and Acadia, the Saturn Outlook, the Hummer H2, and the Chevy Silverado, Avalanche, Tahoe, and Suburban.
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