Author: Tom Krisher
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Ousted GM CEO will get $10M parting gift
DETROIT • Former General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will retire Aug. 1 with a pension and benefit package the automaker valued at more than $10 million.Wagoner, 56, who was ousted by the Obama administration on March 30, will get $1.64 million in benefits annually for each of the next five years, plus…
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GM plans to build subcompact cars in U.S.; UAW OKs contract
DETROIT • The reformation of General Motors Corp. is in high gear. The automaker said Friday that it plans to reopen a shuttered U.S. factory to build subcompact cars that will be the smallest vehicles GM has ever here. An element of the company’s shift from hulking SUVs to more gas-sipping microcars, the move comes…
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General Motors driven to brink
DETROIT • General Motors, the company that put tail fins on a Cadillac and was once the nation’s largest employer, moved to the edge of bankruptcy Wednesday, as debtholders rejected a last-ditch deal. Crosstown rival Chrysler hoped to pull off a quick exit from Chapter 11 and prove there is hope for a leaner Detroit.…
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Reports of importing more cars from China rankle
DETROIT • As thousands of General Motors workers await word on more U.S. plant closures, reports that the company plans to import Chinese-made vehicles to the U.S. have created a political problem for the automaker and the White House. The reports, which GM will neither confirm nor deny, could mean trouble because GM is supported…
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GM CEO still hopes to avoid bankruptcy
DETROIT – Bankruptcy protection for the nation’s biggest automaker is becoming more probable with a deadline just over two weeks away, the company’s top executive told reporters Monday. General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson is still holding out hope that the company can restructure without court protection, but he says the tasks to complete before…
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Suppliers forge plan to seek government loans
DETROIT • Saving the U.S. auto industry will take more than bailing out GM and Chrysler. It also hinges on companies like FormTech Industries, which employs just 440 people and forges steel for parts under the hoods of cars and trucks. And now those suppliers are asking for a bailout of their own. Two major…
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Fiat, Chrysler form alliance
DETROIT • Fiat and Chrysler said Tuesday that they have agreed to form a strategic alliance that would give the Italian auto empire a 35 percent stake in the troubled U.S. carmaker. The deal could bring badly needed small cars to Chrysler’s showrooms and may also help the automaker prove it can become competitive to…
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GM exec says automaker may need more gov’t money
DETROIT – General Motors Corp.’s chief operating officer said today that the automaker has presented a worst-case scenario to Congress in which it would need more money than the $13.4 billion allocated by the Treasury Department.But Fritz Henderson would not speculate on whether GM will need all of the $18 billion in government loans it…
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Chrysler on its last leg?
DETROIT • Even by the standards of battered automakers, Chrysler is in dire shape. Its sales in December were down a stunning 53 percent, far worse than Ford or General Motors, and analysts say it probably won’t survive the year as an independent company – despite $4 billion in government loans and the possibility of…
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U.S. auto sales fell 36% in December
DETROIT • Huge rebates and zero-percent loans couldn’t overcome economic uncertainty as U.S. auto sales plunged 36 percent in December, capping a dismal year that saw sales free-fall by 2.9 million vehicles from 2007. The bleak numbers, according to industry officials and analysts, mean that record high rebates and low-interest financing deals will stick around…