General Motors – News Stories About General Motors - Page 11

Oct 21, 2009 3:33 PM CDT

Rattner: Why I Fired GM's Wagoner

Former car czar calls deficiencies 'appalling'

(Newser) - Barack Obama's former car czar says he had no choice but to fire GM's Rick Wagoner. "Everyone knew Detroit's reputation for insular, slow-moving cultures," Steven Rattner writes in an essay for Fortune. "Even by that low standard, I was shocked by the stunningly poor management that we...

Hummer Sold to Chinese Firm

Oct 10, 2009 1:22 AM CDT

Hummer Sold to Chinese Firm

GM offloads brand to Chinese heavy-equipment maker

(Newser) - General Motors has finalized a deal to sell its iconic Hummer brand to Chinese heavy-equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. The deal will save 150 Hummer dealerships and 3,000 American jobs, execs say. The vehicles will be assembled at GM plants in the US until 2011 under...

Saturn: GM's Biggest Mistake

ANALYSIS

Oct 2, 2009 5:39 PM CDT

Saturn: GM's Biggest Mistake

Brand was an unsustainable distraction from the start

(Newser) - As General Motors’ Saturn experiment ends with a whimper, it’s important to understand that the brand was a failure from the start. Some obituaries blame GM for not providing a fuller roster of vehicles to build customer loyalty—but if anything, the automaker gave Saturn too much, writes Mark...

Saturn to Shut Down as
Penske Deal Collapses

Sep 30, 2009 4:08 PM CDT

Saturn to Shut Down as Penske Deal Collapses

(Newser) - Saturn's hopes of a life after GM ended today when a deal to sell the brand to Penske Automotive fell through. GM said it will now begin shutting down manufacturing and dealership operations. Penske canceled the deal—which could have saved about 13,000 jobs—because it couldn't swing an...

Volcker: Obama Plan May Lead
to More Bailouts

Sep 24, 2009 5:27 PM CDT

Volcker: Obama Plan May Lead to More Bailouts

Former Fed chief faults strategy of 'too big to fail'

(Newser) - A top White House economic adviser says the Obama administration's proposed overhaul of financial rules preserves the policy of "too big to fail" and could lead to future bailouts. Former Fed chief Paul Volcker told Congress that by designating some companies as critical to the broader financial system, the...

Recession Crushes
White-Collar Michigan

Sep 17, 2009 1:26 AM CDT

Recession Crushes White-Collar Michigan

Layoffs, property price plunge leaves middle-aged workers in limbo

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of middle-aged white-collar workers have been left jobless and stranded in Michigan by the recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto industry veterans laid off by the Big Three are finding themselves competing against against younger people for a smattering of job openings. With property prices down...

Obama
Rallies Labor
to Back
Reform

Sep 15, 2009 4:37 PM CDT

Obama Rallies Labor to Back Reform

President rallies for support at AFL-CIO rally, Ohio GM plant

(Newser) - President Obama returned to friendly territory at an AFL-CIO rally in Pittsburgh and a GM plant in Ohio today to rally support for his health care reform plans, the Wall Street Journal reports. Noting that the issue had been talked “to death,” Obama asked the audience of AFL-CIO...

GM to Try Money-Back
Guarantee

Sep 10, 2009 4:46 PM CDT

GM to Try Money-Back Guarantee

Firm hopes 60-day refund period will rouse sales

(Newser) - General Motors is offering a good old money-back guarantee as a ploy to entice buyers to its showrooms, USA Today reports. Buyers will be able to get a full refund on any new GM model within 60 days of purchase. The automaker plans to announce the refund program in ads...

GM to Sell Opel
to Canada's Magna

Sep 10, 2009 9:30 AM CDT

GM to Sell Opel to Canada's Magna

Detroit firm also recommends Vauxhall go to Magna

(Newser) - After painfully drawn-out negotiations, General Motors’ board has agreed to sell its Opel unit to Canadian firm Magna International, maintaining a tie that will keep Opel a "a fully integrated part of GM's global product development organization," the company said. The German government, which earlier this year loaned...

GM Longs to Build
Electric Cadillacs

Aug 22, 2009 6:00 PM CDT

GM Longs to Build Electric Cadillacs

Car could boost brand's image but hurt automaker's bottom line

(Newser) - Old dreams apparently die hard at GM. For months, the automaker has been yearning to build a gasoline-electric luxury Cadillac, but the Treasury Department and naysayers within the company say the price tag would be too high. Now, with the company dramatically reorganized, the Cadillac Converj could be coming to...

GM Will Advance Cash
to Clunkered Dealers

Aug 20, 2009 3:45 PM CDT

GM Will Advance Cash to Clunkered Dealers

(Newser) - General Motors will start making temporary loans to dealers who have yet to be reimbursed by the federal government under the Cash for Clunkers plan, the Wall Street Journal reports. Dealers, some now irate, essentially did the same thing for customers participating in the trade-in plan—covering the government rebate...

Don't Spend
Bonus Bucks
Yet, Warns
'Clawback' Czar

Aug 17, 2009 5:13 AM CDT

Don't Spend Bonus Bucks Yet, Warns 'Clawback' Czar

(Newser) - Just because top banking executives took home hefty paychecks in recent months doesn't mean they'll get to keep the money, reports Reuters. White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg declared he has clear authority to "claw back" egregious bonuses already paid out by any bank that received federal TARP money....

Chevy: Volt Will Get 230mpg
Critics: Yeah, Right

Aug 11, 2009 10:04 AM CDT

Chevy: Volt Will Get 230mpg Critics: Yeah, Right

(Newser) - GM held a triumphant press conference this morning, announcing that, using newly devised EPA methodology, its 2011 Chevy Volt will get a whopping 230 miles per gallon in city driving, by far the highest fuel efficiency rating ever. No car has ever so much as sniffed 100mpg before; the Prius...

GM Launches EBay Car Sales

Aug 11, 2009 4:51 AM CDT

GM Launches EBay Car Sales

(Newser) - GM is hoping to boost its sales in California with a trial program selling new cars and trucks on eBay, AP reports. Most of the company's dealers in the state have signed up for the program, which will let buyers haggle over the price of new vehicles and determine online...

GM Announces
Plug-In Hybrid SUV

Aug 6, 2009 10:52 AM CDT

GM Announces Plug-In Hybrid SUV

Buick model could get twice the mileage of similar automobiles

(Newser) - General Motors’ Buick brand will churn out the first plug-in hybrid SUV by a leading automaker, the company said today. “Buick will get our first plug-in hybrid, which will put the brand front and center in the advanced technology game,” said a GM exec. The company says the...

Anti-Business? Didn't I Just Bail You People Out?

Interview

Jul 30, 2009 10:46 AM CDT

Anti-Business? Didn't I Just Bail You People Out?

Obama rips financial- industry critics, refutes 'stereotypes' on Dems

(Newser) - President Obama says anyone calling him “anti-business” has an awfully short memory. “It was just three or four months ago when, at great political expense, we yanked them out of the fire,” he tells BusinessWeek in a lengthy interview. And of Chrysler and General Motors bondholders, “...

Resurgent Ford Has
High Hopes for Taurus

Jul 28, 2009 5:23 PM CDT

Resurgent Ford Has High Hopes for Taurus

Automaker's financial independence has improved its image with consumers

(Newser) - Ford is hoping to use the imminent launch of the 2010 Taurus to cement its newly dominant position among Detroit’s Big Three, MSNBC reports. Ford’s position as the only major US automaker not receiving government aid has been translating into small but significant gains in market share as...

House Votes to Block Dealership Closings

Jul 17, 2009 5:41 AM CDT

House Votes to Block Dealership Closings

(Newser) - A spending bill passed by the House last night includes a provision to reopen hundreds of Chrysler dealerships and prevent the closing of over 2,000 more planned by GM, the Detroit News reports. The measure, opposed by the White House, will force the automakers to give dealers targeted for...

Rattner May Have Quit Over Pay-to-Play Settlement

Jul 15, 2009 8:30 AM CDT

Rattner May Have Quit Over Pay-to-Play Settlement

New York AG targets ex-car czar's company

(Newser) - Washington is dying to know why Steven Rattner quit after just months as President Obama’s car czar. One possible reason: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is pushing for a legal settlement with his company for its part in a pay-to-play scandal surrounding the state’s pension fund, sources...

Look Out, Detroit: Geely on Track to Be the New Toyota

Jul 15, 2009 6:56 AM CDT

Look Out, Detroit: Geely on Track to Be the New Toyota

(Newser) - The crash of the US auto market has sped up the global auto industry's shift toward emerging markets, and no one is better poised to take advantage than the Chinese, the Wall Street Journal reports. Geely, one of the few Chinese auto firms that operate without a foreign partner, has...