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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , GM , Earnings/Financials Considering the sorry state of financial affairs that GM appears to be in, it seems extremely unsurprising that the board would like to see some big changes made at the very top of the company. What is a little shocking, though, is just how soundly the specific proposals were rejected . For instance, a proposal sponsored by John Chevedden of Redondo Beach, California, which would have given shareholders an annual advisory vote on executive compensation and pay, found less than 38-percent of voters in support. Another proposal which was soundly defeated would have tied executive stock options and awards with company performance. Still, there were some vocal company detractors present at the annual shareholders meeting, such as Mary Ann Wiley from Seattle, Washington. She told GM CEO Rick Wagoner, "If the company does not do well, management should take an equal hit, and I don't think they've taken an equal hit." Wagoner's...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Plants/Manufacturing , GM , UAW/Unions General Motors announced today that approximately 19,000 hourly employees have opted to leave the automaker's ranks in exchange for a buyout offer and retirement incentives. The offer was extended to 74,000 UAW workers in an attempt to swap out highly paid long-termers with lower-paid new employees as the General realigns its financial situation. Workers have had months to make the decision, but GM is giving them another week to rethink their choice. Employees that have made the final decision will leave no later than July 1, 2008. The effect of nearly 19,000 hourly employees taking buyouts apparently wasn't enough to right the S.S. General Motors as the massive automaker just announced that a new restructuring plan with more buyouts and layoffs is on its way. [Source: GM] Continue reading Nearly 19,000 hourly workers take buyout from GM Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Plants/Manufacturing , GMC , UAW/Unions When the UAW went on strike against American Axle & Manufacturing in late February, analysts expected a settlement within days. The supplier of axles, driveshafts, and other related components to General Motors and other automakers had a stockpile of inventory on hand, and few expected the strike to affect production. However, as talks failed to bring workers back, the situation quickly went downhill. By early March, nearly GM 20 GM truck plants were threatening to idle or shut down. By late March, GM's car plants were feeling the effects. Earlier this month, it was GM who offered up to $200 million to help bring the strike to an end -- the automaker has suffered production stops or cut backs at 30 plants in North America as of last week. Today, American Axle made an offer to the union to bring the 11-week strike to an end. It includes buyouts to workers who have been on the job for more than 10 years, retirement...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Marketing/Advertising , GM General Motors is on a campaign to streamline and cut through red tape, and to that end is changing the management structure of its brands. As of June 1, GM is establishing four new "brand czars" who will have increased control over their products and be responsible for their divisions' successes and failures. Pontiac-Buick-GMC, Cadillac-HUMMER-Saab, Chevrolet and Saturn will each be accountable to a new brand chief, who in turn will report to the corporate VP of sales, service and marketing. The positions, which will all be vice-president-level appointments (except for Saturn, whose brand czar will coordinate with Opel), will have increased input into the overall process from product development through sales. The new brand czars will replace the five regional general managers that have acted until now as an insulator between the brands and its dealers. Insiders are hailing the move as a positive step, helping General...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings General Motors announced today that it has aligned the sales, service and marketing of its brands into four distinct channels. They include the Chevrolet Channel; Buick-Pontiac-GMC (BPG) Channel; the Premium Channel that encompasses Cadillac; Saab and HUMMER; and what's called the Channel Support Group (CSG). Other media outlets like Automotive News insist Saturn is one of the channels, so we assume it will fall under the CSG, though it will still be lead by its current General Manager, Jill Lajdziak. One big score for the General was hiring on Mark McNabb, who comes to GM from his former position at Nissan where he was corporate vice-pres of Infiniti and the senior vice-pres of sales and marketing for Nissan North America. McNabb has been crowned the North American Vice President of the newly minted Premium Channel and will oversee sales, service and marketing for Cadillac, Saab and HUMMER. Otherwise, it seems GM has just switched around who reports to...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Chrysler , Ford , GM , UAW/Unions Over the last few years, huge numbers of union workers have accepted buyout packages to leave their high-paying jobs at automotive factories and office buildings. Many of those retired workers will be replaced by new hires at much lower salaries in the coming years. In fact, there could be as many as 46,000 new workers hired in Michigan alone, according to a recent 95-page report ( PDF link here ) released by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). This report could mean good things for the troubled economy surrounding Detroit -- but it's not all roses, as the report indicates that more workers will leave through attrition than the estimated 46,000 that could be hired. Also, all of those new workers will require lots of training before they can be counted on as worthy replacements. Still, as Kristin Dziczek, an analyst from CAR says, "The bleeding will stop." [Source: CAR via The Car Connection ] Read | Permalink...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Plants/Manufacturing , Chrysler , GM , UAW/Unions The 10-day strike between American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. and the United Auto Workers union is now threatening to idle or partially shut down 13 more GM plants as early as Monday. Although talks are underway again, even a resolution over the weekend may mean closures as it takes time to deliver inventory and ramp up production. As of now, seven assembly plants at GM have already been idled after the AA workers walked off their jobs on February 26th . American Axle supplies components to many different automakers, meaning the strike is being felt industry-wide. The strike is hitting GM particularly hard, however, as it does represent some 80% of the supplier's business. GM idled four truck plants within days. By yesterday, five GM plants, and seven suppliers were down. Chrysler may also have to idle plants in Delaware and Mexico by mid-next week if both sides don't come to an agreement...
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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: Hirings/Firings , GM , UAW/Unions It turns out that the three-day inventory of parts that was stockpiled by OEM supplier American Axle is not nearly enough to weather a strike by the United Auto Workers union. The strike began early Wednesday, and though it's only Friday, General Motors is preparing to shut down its second, third and fourth assembly plant on account of parts shortages from American Axle. GM shut down its Pontiac, MI truck plant yesterday, which will be followed by the Fort Wayne, Flint and Oshawa plants, which build the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, at midnight tonight. That's a lot of truck plants off-line, but there's one more in Silao, Mexico that builds the Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade and ESV that will remain running for now. Unlike the strikes levied by the UAW against GM and Chrysler during contract negotiation talks last year, the current strike against American Axle is no token bargaining tool that will end before the...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Plants/Manufacturing , GM , UAW/Unions In a move that may threaten production at General Motors, the United Auto Workers union went on strike against American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. earlier today. The UAW work stoppage, the third called by the union within the past six months, centered around wages, benefits, and concerns that the company may be moving production to Mexico. American Axle is the sole axle supplier to GM for light trucks such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon . The company supplies axles, shafts, and related components to other automakers, as well. As the four-year contract with the UAW neared the end of its term and the strike loomed, American Axle did stockpile its inventory. It is unclear, however, just how much supply is on hand. It may not need to last long, as analysts expect a negotiated settlement to end the strike within several days. This is good news for everyone, especially the workers who are walking the picket...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Plants/Manufacturing , GM , UAW/Unions Once you have cut everyone, who is left to cut? That's the problem facing GM, according to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. The General has already harvested the low hanging fruit with previous buyouts, but they're embarking on another round to try and further reduce labor costs. We've already covered the specifics of GM's latest buyout offer that attempts to sweeten the enticement to leave so that cheaper labor can be brought in. The new offer was made to 74,000 employees, and Gettelfinger estimates that about 15,000 will accept the offer. Uncertainty over what the US economy is likely to do in coming months is playing a role in the decision for the roughly 46,000 GM employees eligible for retirement. Money is no longer pouring out of the housing market, and people who thought they'd cash out for a retirement in tropical climes are rethinking their plans while we all wait on tenterhooks to see what...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , GM , Earnings/Financials , UAW/Unions Let's get the hard numbers out of the way. Today General Motors revealed that excluding special items, it posted a net loss of $23 million in 2007. Add in some funky deferred tax asset charge , and the automaker's net loss last year rises to $38.3 billion. Aside from that, we're interested in how GM fared in the business of selling cars and trucks around the world last year. In 2007, the automaker earned $553 million before taxes selling vehicles globally, compared to losing $339 million in 2006. Worldwide vehicles sales increased 3% to 9.4 million vehicles last year, but the North American market was no help, losing $1.5 billion before taxes. Numbers aside, GM also had some big news today in the form of new buyouts for its entire union workforce that's some 74,000 strong. Similar to the recent round of new buyouts offered by Ford and Chrysler to their union workers, the new arrangement is more generous...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , Plants/Manufacturing , GM , Earnings/Financials , UAW/Unions General Motors held a conference with analysts today in which it outlined the automaker's turnaround progress and plans for 2008, the result of which is a press release (after the jump) that is the most boring piece of literature ever to be read. We tried, and were comatose by the first set of bullet points. Those who soldiered on, however, discovered that GM's cost-cutting plans for 2008 include offering worker buyouts to 46,000 eligible employees and potentially closing more facilities. Follow the jump for the skinny on the details, as well as the official snooze-inducing press release from GM. [Source: GM, The Detroit News] Continue reading GM offering more worker buyouts, could close more plants in 2008 Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Hirings/Firings , GM In an interview with WunderBob Lutz , the Associated Press reported that "he wants to retire from General Motors Corp. after the company brings a plug-in electric car to market, possibly sometime in 2010." After what must have been enough phone calls and e-mails to bust a switchboard, Lutz has clarified the AP story with a resounding "I'm not thinking retirement." The AP stands by its story, which it said was a story about retirement. The confusion perhaps came from Lutz saying he wanted to retire after a plug-in electric comes out, and the AP writing that he could "possibly" retire immediately after it came out. Lutz also said, "Unfortunately, this was misinterpreted as a statement that I would retire at the end of 2010. While this remains a possibility, it is not 'a plan'! We'll just take it a year at a time!" Of course, the furor also points out just how important Bob Lutz is to GM. The General...
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings , GM Sending the Chevrolet Volt into production might be the last effort of GM's Vice Chairman for Global Product Development, Bob Lutz. The 75-year-old executive has stated that he would like to retire from the automotive giant once they get a plug-in electric vehicle on the market (nevermind that they already had one with the EV1). While a precise date of retirement has not been set, it will possibly occur sometime in 2010. Since Lutz has been one of GM's main champions of the Volt, it is no surprise that he wants to be around for its release. The only worry on his part is the potential for health issues to arise or the chance that the board of directors could decide to move on to a younger team of executives. [Source: Yahoo Finance] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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