GM 'Unlikely' to Make Deadline in UAW Talks

(NEWSER) - The UAW broke off crucial talks with GM today, only 3 days before the beleaguered company is scheduled to submit restructuring plans to Washington, Reuters reports. At issue were retiree healthcare costs that executives want to replace partly with shares in a recapitalized GM. "It doesn't seem like the stakeholders are really prepared to give a whole lot," one industry analyst said. More»

Comments a 'new low in dishonesty,' Obama campaign says

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney says he deserves a lot of the credit for saving America's auto industry, despite his vocal opposition to taxpayer help for General Motors and Chrysler in 2008. The Republican, speaking at an auto parts maker in Cleveland yesterday, said Obama followed his lead by allowing both firms to go into a managed bankruptcy—although the course of action Romney suggested was very different from the one Obama took, because both firms were able to file an orderly bankruptcy on the strength of government loans Romney opposed, notes AP . More»

GM and Chrysler were freed from most of their legal responsibilities

(NEWSER) - When the government bailed out Chrysler and GM, it freed them from most of their prior legal obligations—including billions owed to the victims of crashes involving defective cars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though the automakers agreed to continue to be liable for new lawsuits stemming from old vehicle crashes, victims who already had cases in progress against the automakers, or who’d already been awarded money in court, are now stuck begging for some fraction of their money. More»

Some Republicans were ready to let GM, Chrysler die: Jonathan Cohn

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama reportedly plans to make the auto bailout a key part of his reelection campaign, and Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic thinks that’s a great idea. Chrysler and GM are in much better shape, he argues—GM in particular is “reporting big profits, it is winning design awards, and, most important of all, it is selling lots of cars.” More importantly, employment is creeping higher in states like Michigan with a heavy auto industry presence. More»

(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 closing under bankruptcy agreements "a decent review process, a decent appeals process," said the head of the House Appropriations Committee. More»