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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Plants/Manufacturing , Chrysler, LLC. , GM Our heads are still reeling from one of the most tumultuous weeks on record, both for the financial world and the auto industry. But despite our best efforts to drown our concerns in Racer5 IPA, the hits keep coming and this time, it's courtesy of the New York Times . The Gray Lady is reporting that General Motors and Chrysler have been in talks about a possible merger for the past month and that two unnamed sources say that the chances of the deal going through are "50-50." With GM's stock prices ending the week below $5 a share and Cerberus - the private equity firm that owns Chrysler - grasping at straws any and all straws, including continued talks with Nissan/Renault, a merger of unequals is two parts disturbing and one part intriguing. Cerberus' people haven't been returning phone calls and the only comment offered to the NYT from the General's...
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Filed under: Etc. , Ford , GM , Humor Click above to enlarge Credit Ford with a classy move yesterday when it strategically left the blinds open in certain offices at its World Headquarters in Dearborn. The effect was a building-sized birthday card congratulating its cross-town competitor, General Motors, on making it 100 years in the automotive business. Ford celebrated its centennial a few years back, so knows how much fun the big 1-0-0 can be. And though they're technically competitors in this grueling business, both Ford and GM often find themselves in the same boat when it comes to battling imports for market share, appealing to the federal government for loans and generally doing their best not to make Detroit an embarrassment. Did you know that GM almost bought Ford back in the day? The man responsible for making GM what it is today, Billy Durant, made Henry Ford an offer of $8 million to buy his six-year-old car company on October 5, 1909... and Ford accepted. Unfortunately...
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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Plants/Manufacturing , GM GM Daewoo has been forced to idle its plant in Bupyeong, South Korea due to strong-arm tactics by tire OEMs Hankook and Kumho. The Bupyeong plant produces the vehicle we know and ummm... tolerate as the Chevrolet Aveo, and possibly (unfortunately) soon as the Pontiac G3 . Rather than pony up the 12% price increases that the tire suppliers want, GM wants a preliminary injunction to force them to end the supply cutoff. For their part, Hankook and Kumho cite higher raw materials costs for their increased monetary demands, even after ratcheting up prices by 5.5% in March. The work stoppage isn't expected to be protracted, so before long, we'll see these little carlets rolling off the line again. GM could always call the tiremakers' bluffs and switch suppliers. We're sure Goodyear or Bridgestone would be interested in talking. [Source: The Car Blogger ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Marketing/Advertising , GM This Independence Day might be the time for waving the red, white, and blue, but GM wants to nab some green, too. The automaker is extending its 0-percent financing sale, which it kicked off on June 24th as the "72-hour sale," until July 7th. The extension of the special financing offer allows dealers to capitalize on the increased floor traffic that GM's advertising onslaught generated. The sale and advertising frequency get people in the door, but many car buyers hem and haw, making it tough to close a deal in just a week's time. The extension gives salespeople a reason to ring up prospects and offer them the sweetest deal they can muster on a new General Motors vehicle. While we'd love to get a C6 Corvette for $20,000 off invoice and 0 percent terms on the loan, our blogging income likely supports a Certified Used vehicle instead. On that end, GM is also offering financing between 2.9 and 4.9 percent on...
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Filed under: Etc. , Ford , GM Of all the preposterous ideas floated around this, the new automotive landscape, none seem as ridiculous as Ford and General Motors merging together to create a singular domestic monolith. But according to a BusinessWeek source, the idea was recently floated by execs during a meeting of the General's generals... and then shot down moments later. While we wouldn't describe this as a close call, the fact that it was even mentioned speaks volumes about the dire straits Detroit's Big 3 (or 2.8, if you prefer) are in. Between plummeting sales, increased material costs, high fuel prices and union woes, both automakers are facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. But creating a $350 billion bloated corporate entity with excess production capacity, weak brands and more cannibalizing product overlap than has ever been seen, there's no doubt that it would be suicide for all involved. Not to mention the fact that the amount of resources necessary to...
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Filed under: Etc. , Safety , GM , Saab Vägverket, the Swedish Road Administration, is reporting that General Motors used ten human cadavers for crash research. While it isn't clear which GM vehicle hosted the corpses on their one-way trip into a wall, a spokesman for Vägverket said it was most likely the Saab brand. The spokesman was also quick to point out that all of the cadavers were people "who had donated their own bodies." (Well, that is comforting to know!) While cadavers were used in the earliest crash tests (first started in the late 1930s), most of us were under the assumption that fully-instrumented million-dollar synthetic crash test dummies, or computer simulations, had replaced human remains in current testing. Apparently, some folks at GM may have been thinking otherwise. As of today, neither General Motors or Saab have acknowledged any tests involving dead bodies, but our hunch says this issue hasn't been laid to rest. Thanks for the tip, Will...
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Filed under: Etc. , GM GM has seen plenty of tough times over the past few years, and even the company's top executives have felt the pinch. Executive pay was among the items cut as the General waded through multi-billion-dollar losses and immense market pressure, but after two years of cuts, the members of GM's top brass are getting their old salaries back. Top boss Rick Wagoner's base pay went as "low" as $1.1M but is now back to its 2003 level of $2.2M. Product czar Bob Lutz and money man Fritz Henderson also had their pay restored, and Fritz even got a raise to reflect his promotion to COO. Many of the pay cuts were voluntary in recognition of GM's market struggles, but even with the cuts in base pay, overall executive pay packages are worth a lot more than just the salaries alone. Wagoner, for example, was paid $14.4M in 2007, while Maximum Bob came in at $6.9M. [Source: Auto News (subs. req'd)] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Hirings/Firings , GM General Motors has reintroduced the position of President and Chief Operating Officer with the naming of Fritz Henderson to the post by Rick Wagoner. Henderson's move up from Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer sees Ray Young moving from group VP of finance to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, filling the vacuum left by Henderson's departure. Group Vice President of Global Powertrain and Global Quality, Thomas G. Stephens, also makes the move to Executive Vice President. The new appointees will work closely with Rick Wagoner and product guy Bob Lutz to keep the GM ship on course. Henderson will be drawing on his past experience in a variety of roles at GM. Regional presidents will report to Henderson, who will confer with Rick Wagoner. For now, it's about as exciting as watching a chess match, but GM's moving these people into their new roles with an eye on the company's trajectory out of the doldrums...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Crossovers/CUVs , Pontiac click above for more high-res images of the Pontiac Aztek... if you dare The Pontiac Aztek may be the butt of more jokes than Britney Spears, but even two years after its demise , the world's ugliest crossover of all time is still selling. In fact, Pontiac dealers chalked up a whopping 25 sales in 2007, and we'd like to meet the visually impaired customers who drove them off the lot and into a lifetime's worth of ridicule. Actually, we'd like to visit the 25 Pontiac dealerships that risked the embarrassment of keeping a two-year old "new" car on their lots. Any mention of Sales Person of the Year should include the fine men and women who pushed, dragged and pulled those Azteks off the lot. How do you explain to the new car shopper why his new car no longer has that new car smell? OK, we're done. PS: We're well aware that there are many satisfied owners out there who appreciate the practical design...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Etc. , Audi , Buick , Chrysler , GM , Honda , Mercedes Benz , Volvo Road and Travel Magazine crowned the winners of its 2008 International Car Of The Year at 12th annual NAIAS-eve ceremony last night. Honda's newly-ginormous Accord took the coronation on the car side, while Chrysler's revamped Town and Country used its slick new features to win the truck category. RTM's judges are a veritable who's who of heavy-hitting auto journos, including Ann Job, David E. Davis, Jr., Denise McCluggage and Autoblog's own John McElroy . The pundit firepower lends real credence to the selections, even if you don't agree 100%. Results were sorted by JD Power and Associates, and General Motors had the most vehicles named to the overall list. GM was also presented with the first Earth Angel award, honoring the environmentally-friendly efforts of the automaker. The full list of winners is included in RTM's press release, posted after the jump. ...
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Filed under: Etc. , Videos , GM Steven Colbert has triumphantly returned to his nightly tirades after being off the air for over two months because of the Writer's Guild strike. The faux conservative commentator's comeback happened on Monday, but last night, Colbert weighed in on the General's announcement that it's developing a vehicle that takes those pesky driving duties away from the person behind the wheel. Colbert opines that The Boss might be the answer to his dreams of catching up on TIVOed Oprah episodes or sending a scathing email to the New York Times editorial department while barreling along at 80 mph. More importantly, Colbert questions that if a car can drive itself, why can't they develop a TV show that writes itself? All the truthiness is available in the video after the jump . Continue reading VIDEO: Steven Colbert smitten with GM's driverless car Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , GM , Earnings/Financials , Tokyo Auto Salon Back in June 2007, GM was staring a lot of financial variables in the face. To help alleviate a potential cash crunch, the General took out a $4.1 billion line of credit with a syndicate of banks to ensure that bills would get paid in the event of an emergency. The UAW negotiations have come and gone, and the Cadillac CTS and Chevy Malibu have launched without the General needing to dip into the credit line, so GM terminated the agreement. The automaker informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had "sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility" in the first half of 2008 to cover its bills without borrowing additional funds. We won't pretend to know whether GM canceled the credit line because it's starting to see progress in the US, or if the UAW negotiations went better than it thought, or if the Detroit automaker kept the plastic in its wallet this holiday season. We...
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Filed under: Trends , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Tech , Audi , GM It's that time of year where everyone's prognosticating like Nostradamus about what the coming year will hold. The authoritative ink slingers at Automobile magazine have decided that Audi's R8 deserves the dual honors of 2008 Automobile Of The Year and Design Of The Year, as well. While infused with the generous spirit, Automobile named General Motor's Two-Mode Hybrid rig Technology Of The Year. The R8 is Audi's sports/GT that looks like a supercar and radiates a glow across the entire Audi model line. Not only does it have neck-snapping visual presence, with a 420 horsepower V8 between the axles, there's a deep well of accelerative force to go along with a finely-tuned AWD chassis that doesn't scramble the occupants. Park the R8 next to some rosso italiano , and the lithe German with its metal side blades, straked vents front and rear, and muscular stance might just steal all the thunder. Big trucks...
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Filed under: Gadgets , Etc. , GM One of my biggest pet peeves about the new GM cars I've driven is the unavailability of Bluetooth. Let's face it: most of us use Bluetooth-enabled phones, and as more manufacturers incorporate Bluetooth connectivity into their cars and trucks, GM's apparent lack of action on this front makes it look bad. Consider the new CTS. It's a fantastic car that can be had with full iPod integration, the Gracenote database for your CDs, a 40GB in-dash hard drive, but not Bluetooth integration for your phone. It's a glaring omission in a car that otherwise uses technology to good effect. This applies almost everywhere -- Escalade, Malibu, Denali, you name it -- with the notable exception of the Cadillac STS. If you're not rolling in the CTS' big (and less appealing) brother, you either have to use a headset or the OnStar phone system. This is stupid. Thankfully, it's going to end. In a reader Q&A session at the GM FYI Blog, Phil Colley...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Maintenance , Etc. , Buick , Cadillac , GM , GMC , Lexus , Pontiac , Saturn The General's chief product guru, Bob Lutz, responded to questions regarding GM's reliability in the company's FastLane Blog's most recent video Q&A...
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