New GM may lean on Latin America lessons

[rickaren]

New GM may lean on Latin America lessons

Posted Thursday, Jul 9, 2009, 11:46 am in Employee News

For all its miscues at home, General Motors Corp. has built a powerhouse operation in Latin America, where its fuel-efficient vehicles could play a crucial role in returning the battered company to health, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Since it filed for bankruptcy last month, the automaker has been striking deals to shed much of its operations, including its Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands and its Opel division in Europe, while shuttering more factories and laying off workers in North America, the paper said. But despite rumors this spring, GM’s thriving Latin America operations probably will escape the ax, analysts told the paper.

The region is an important, low-cost manufacturing platform for the U.S. market. And among Latin American consumers, GM remains a respected brand with the highest market share—21 percent—of any carmaker, said Guido Vildozo, an auto analyst with IHS Global Insight in Waltham, Mass. While GM’s U.S. sales declined 23 percent last year, they were up 3 percent in Latin America, and thanks to some timely government support, this year’s sales are on track to match last year’s, the story said. (The Los Angeles Times)

[rickaren]

GM preps for rebirth; readies package for Wagoner

Posted Thursday, Jul 9, 2009, 11:47 am in Employee News

General Motors Corp. is rushing to prepare for its rebirth late this week as a company largely owned by the U.S. government, the Detroit Free Press said.

While a government lawyer has said the deal to sell GM’s good assets to create a new GM could close immediately after the judge’s approval goes into effect at noon today, officials in Detroit expect the new company to emerge no sooner than Friday, people familiar with the planning told the paper.

As it prepares for the New GM to emerge from bankruptcy, the company appears to be close to offering former CEO and Chairman Rick Wagoner an exit package to formally leave, the story said. Wagoner resigned his position at the end of March at the request of the U.S. Treasury’s auto task force; however, he technically stayed on as a GM employee as the automaker, and U.S. Treasury worked to figure out the pay and benefit obligations of the New GM, a person familiar with the process told the paper. (Detroit Free Press)

[rickaren]

GM will exit bankruptcy with $48 billion in debt

Posted Thursday, Jul 9, 2009, 11:48 am in Employee News

General Motors Corp., which is preparing to sell its best assets to a streamlined new entity, will carry with it liabilities of $48.4 billion, a bankruptcy judge said and Bloomberg reported.

The new GM agreed to take on those obligations to benefit creditors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in New York said July 7, the news service said. They will be offset by GM’s most competitive assets, such as Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC, the story said.

Gerber previously approved the sale of most of GM’s business to a U.S. Treasury-funded buyer and said the company could complete the deal any time after today at noon, the news service reported. The Treasury has set a July 10 deadline for the sale, the story said.(Bloomberg)