GM Tidbits

[articsteve]

Doesn't sound to me to be a problem with GM specifically, like the article you posted suggested.

 

Let's read carefully from your two above mentioned quotes ....

 General Motors' mild hybrid vehicles are stuck in neutral because of battery-pack failures.

Toyota's VP of Communications, Irv Miller, said batteries are in short supply worldwide and this is what affected Prius production and its sales last month in the U.S.

To me "failure" is quite different from "short supply".  I'd rather have a supply issue than a failure issue.  Regardless, they are two quite different problems.  Toyota is solving their issue by building more capacity.  It seems GM must first find a battery supplier that has a reliable battery for what they can afford.

[Allen]

GM cuts jobs, suspends dividend
TOM KRISHER AND DEE-ANN DURBIN

The Associated Press

July 15, 2008 at 10:19 AM EDT

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. plans to slash its U.S. and Canadian white-collar salary budget by 20 per cent, make further cuts in truck production, suspend its dividend and borrow $2-billion (U.S.) to $3-billion as it struggles with a declining U.S. market.

GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced the cuts to employees Tuesday. He did not comment specifically on Canadian operations, and representatives of GM Canada said they couldn't immediately determine the local impact on jobs or production.

The moves will raise $15-billion to help turn around its North American operations, the company said.

“We recognize we can't sit back and wait for U.S. conditions to improve,” Mr. Wagoner said in a media briefing.

“We need to continue to be proactive and even take some very tough actions to ensure our survival and our success.”

Chief operating officer Fritz Henderson said a large chunk of the reduction would come from cutting health care benefits for American salaried retirees.

Those people would get a pension increase from the company's pension fund to augment U.S. Medicare payments and supplemental insurance, the company said.

Several thousand jobs will be cut through attrition, buyouts and early retirements, Mr. Henderson said. The company could resort to involuntary layoffs, he added.

GM has 40,000 salaried employees in the U.S. and Canada.

Mr. Henderson said the company intends to reduce its truck production capacity by 300,000 units — 150,000 more than it announced in June.

The company will speed up closures of its truck and sport utility vehicle factories in Oshawa, Ont.; Janesville, Wis.; Silao, Mexico; and Moraine, Ohio, and it will make thousands of job cuts at other truck assembly and parts factories, Mr. Henderson said.

The company said last month that its truck-assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., would be among four of its North American plants slated for closure next year, meaning about 2,600 people would lose their jobs.

Mr. Henderson would not say Tuesday if further plants will be closed, and said the company still must negotiate further cuts with its unions.

GM said it will suspend its $1 annual dividend immediately, which will improve liquidity by $800-million through 2009. It's the first time the company has suspended its dividend since 1922.

The company also plans to raise $2-billion to $4-billion through the sale of assets, including the Hummer brand.

It also plans to borrow $2-billion to $3-billion by pledging assets including stock of foreign subsidiaries, brands, real estate and its stake in its finance arm.

GM and other auto companies have been hammered by high gas prices, the weak economy and a rapid shift in consumer tastes away from trucks and SUVs. GM's American sales were down 16 per cent in the first six months of this year, led by a 21 per cent decline in truck sales.

GM is forecasting total U.S. sales of 14.7 million this year. That's down from 17 million as recently as 2005.

[random006]

From The Globe and Mail:

GM workers offered rich buyouts

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080728.wgm0728/BNStory/Business/home

[Allen]

GMAC to stop subsidized leasing in Canada

Jul 29, 2008 06:10 PM

 Reuters

DETROIT–GMAC Financial Services said today that it will no longer offer lease-related incentives in Canada, citing market conditions and recent steep drops in used vehicle residual values.

GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia said GMAC will suspend Canadian incentivised lease offers effective Aug. 1, but will continue to offer standard-rate leases.

Proia said the company does not break out the proportion of Canadian leases involving incentives. Detroit-based General Motors currently offers Canadian leasing incentives such as rates as low as 0.5 per cent for up to four years on its Pontiac Montana passenger van and Torrent sport utility vehicle.’

GM Canada said it has been moving away from supporting lease rates for new vehicles over the past six months in favour of offering customers financing options that are more attractive.

The company said it will offer buyers finance options with payments the same or equal to those of leases.

Proia said that as of today, no similar announcement had been made concerning U.S. GMAC leases.

The news, conveyed to Canadian dealers yesterday, follows Chrysler LLC’s announcement that its financial arm will get out of the U.S. automotive leasing business by the end of the month.

Both Chrysler Financial and GMAC are majority owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP. The private equity firm owns 80.1 per cent of Chrysler and 51 per cent of GMAC, formerly known as General Motors Acceptance Corp. before the automaker divested the majority holding in 2006.

GM and Chrysler aren’t the only automakers hurt by increases in leasing costs. Ford Motor Co. said last week that its credit arm took a $2.1-billion charge during the second quarter because of the drop in the residual values of leased trucks and SUVs.

Wholesale prices of used pickup trucks dropped 11.2 per cent during the second quarter, while wholesale SUV prices fell 9.6 per cent, according to U.S. National Automobile Dealers Association data.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Subaru also uses GMAC for lease and financing. Wonder how it's going to affect them?

Sort of figures I finally break down and lease my first car just as everyone else is bailing!

[G0dspd]

GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia said GMAC will suspend Canadian incentivised lease offers effective Aug. 1, but will continue to offer standard-rate leases.

Does this means that 0% is gone but that they still lease vehicles at 5-6% (or whatever)?

From what I've read, Chrysler won't offer leases from now on and Ford will discourage the lease of trucks/SUVs by cranking up the price (of a lease) ridiculously high.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia said GMAC will suspend Canadian incentivised lease offers effective Aug. 1, but will continue to offer standard-rate leases.

Does this means that 0% is gone but that they still lease vehicles at 5-6% (or whatever)?

From what I've read, Chrysler won't offer leases from now on and Ford will discourage the lease of trucks/SUVs by cranking up the price (of a lease) ridiculously high.

Believe the lease will be more like 11.5+%.

[airbalancer]

Hey Sir
Have you seen any new Camaros running around he car plant?

[airbalancer]

Break down of gm sales for July
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/08/01/095153.html

scroll down to see chart

[safristi]

  Don't use "break down"& GM inna same sentence Barrie1 will have FIT

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Anybody else catch the 'Saving GM' documentary on CNBC last night? Only caught part of it but thought it very interesting and it's supposed to repeat.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/25349480/

[huota]

Break down of gm sales for July
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/08/01/095153.html

Corvette outsold Astra in July. I am afraid the GM heads were right in their sales forecast...

[echo7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eOGHeSD9K4


cnbc report "saving GM"

[airbalancer]

 six-speed/four-cylinder combination, the Aura, G6 and Malibu achieve 22/33 US mpg city/highway fuel economy
http://www.leftlanenews.com/gm-spreads-six-speed-automaticfour-cylinder-combination-across-line.html

[Scaerio]

Break down of gm sales for July
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/08/01/095153.html

Corvette outsold Astra in July. I am afraid the GM heads were right in their sales forecast...

Interesting.  When I was in Newfoundland visiting my parents in St. John's in late July I noticed that there were lots of Astras on the road.  The car is proving to be very popular there.

[safristi]

  did they float ashore on ice_FLOWS wif Polar Bears...............

[Wolfe]

Skystice dead. Echo of the Fiero?

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f70/gmi-exclusive-kappa-ii-platform-axed-r-d-68685/

It is no secret by now that General Motors has been shaking up its product programs left and right. We first heard of the slashing of the Buick Zeta car, apparent death of the Cadillac Zeta car, and the impending death of a couple GMC product programs. Now GMI is hearing that the Kappa II program, successor to the current lineup of Kappa roadsters, has been pulled from the product plans. The reasons for all of these changes are obvious; uncertain gas prices, an uneasy economy, poor financial situation within the company and an overall product shake up are just a few reasons.

The Kappa line of products makes the "cut" bill rather easily. GMI has been told that when the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky came to the market, GM was losing around $10,000 per unit built. Needless to say, that is not a money-making product line by any stretch of the imagination. It is not entirely surprising that Kappa has been a money pit of a product program. From the ground up Kappa cars are costly; starting with the frame no less. The Kappa architecture is hydroformed as part of the fabrication process to achieve the dimensions and frame rails needed. Many of the body panels (namely the hood, deck-lid, and fenders) are hydroformed as well. Hydra-forming is a costly fabrication method, particularly for vehicles that have such low starting prices and low volume to boot. Add on the fact that the Kappa vehicles are largely “hand built” cars (at least by today’s standards); it becomes quite evident why GM will likely never get a return on investment with the Kappa products.

In other news the MX-5 keeps on keepin' on.

[Careener]

I was saddened to read this today. I think they were pretty close to getting this vehicle right. If I fit in one (which I don't..too tall..) I'd consider one as a fun topless runabout.

[Simple]

Are they still losing $10,000 per solstice now?  Dosen't say how long the current car will last.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Canada strikes deal with GM for Ontario investment

Automotive News
September 8, 2008 - 12:01 am ET

TORONTO (Reuters) -- The Canadian government said on Saturday it had struck a deal with General Motors of Canada Ltd. that commits the automaker to invest C$290 million ($273 million) at several of its Ontario operations.

The announcement is the second of its kind in the past three days and may help shore up support for Canada's minority Conservative government in Southern Ontario, where the auto manufacturing sector has been bleeding jobs, on the eve of an election call.

Under the agreement, GM will put about C$245 million into its St. Catharines plant to make fuel-efficient 6-speed front-wheel drive transmissions, which would support more than 300 jobs, Industry Canada said in a release.

In Oshawa, where GM recently announced it was shuttering its truck plant, eliminating 2,600 jobs, Canada's largest auto maker has agreed to build a mid-sized hybrid vehicle at its car plant.

GM will also commit C$40 million for environmental research at its Canadian engineering center, also in Oshawa.

The Canadian government, which is widely expected to call a federal election on Sunday for Oct. 14, is not required to contribute any new funds.

Instead, it said it would not trigger early repayment of loans it provided GM under a 2005 agreement, of around C$200 million, that hinged on minimum employment targets, which GM will not meet due to the truck plant closure.

On Thursday, the government announced it would invest up to C$80 million in Ford Canada facilities in Windsor, Ontario.

Canada's auto sector has been hit hard by a combination of high gasoline prices, a stronger Canadian dollar and the economic slowdown in the United States, where nine of every 10 Canadian-built cars are sold.