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May 2009
- GM's Opel, Vauxhall Get a Shot at Survival
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 29, 09 11:48 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Canadian auto supplier Magna wants to buy GM’s European brands, offering Opel and Vauxhall a chance at survival, the Wall Street Journal reports. A deal for Opel would need temporary German funding. Angela Merkel’s government is debating putting up some $2 billion—but wants GM and the US Treasury to separate Opel from the rest of the Detroit firm to ensure the loan doesn’t end up in US creditors’ pockets. More »
- GM Will Declare Bankruptcy June 1: Insiders
  
  Bloomberg | May 28, 09 1:27 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - General Motors will file for bankruptcy protection Monday, insiders tell Bloomberg. The company has apparently decided that it cannot make the government-mandated June 1 deadline to shed $44 billion in debt. The timeline is unclear, but bondholders' agreement today to forgive debts in exchange for a stake in the “new” post-bankruptcy GM apparently helped the company firm up its course of action. More »
- Bondholders Reject GM Deal; Bankruptcy Looms
  
  Associated Press | May 27, 09 6:59 AM CDT
  
  (AP) - General Motors says not enough of its bondholders agreed to swap their debt for company stock, meaning the troubled automaker is almost certainly headed for bankruptcy protection. GM has until Monday to finish restructuring or file for bankruptcy. But the company said today that its offer to exchange $27 billion in unsecured debt for 10% of the company's stock had failed. More »
- US Likely to Own 70% of Bankrupt GM
  
  New York Times | May 26, 09 4:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - If General Motors goes into bankruptcy next Monday—as is widely expected—the US government will own 70% of the automaker, the New York Times reports. Under a plan that GM officials detailed today to union members, the UAW would take a 17.5% stake though its health care fund, with a potential for 2.5% more. Bondholders, who have more money at risk than the UAW, would get just 10% of GM. More »
- Would-Be Car-Battery Kings Jostle Over $2.4B From Feds
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 26, 09 9:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Some 165 companies and states are battling for a $2.4 billion Obama administration grant aimed at making the US a leader in electric-car batteries, the Wall Street Journal reports. General Motors, Dow Chemical, and General Electric are among the firms vying for the money; states like Michigan, Kentucky, and Massachusetts are on board, hoping to become the center of an industry that promises big things. More »
- GM Borrows Another $4B From Feds
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 23, 09 6:09 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - General Motors has borrowed another $4 billion from the Treasury ahead of its June 1 deadline to restructure or face bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports. A statement from the automakers said the loan, which brings the total borrowed to nearly $20 billion, is "to maintain adequate liquidity" during restructuring efforts. GM is widely expected to file for bankruptcy next week. More »
- Ford Courts GM, Chrysler Customers
  
  Detroit News | May 22, 09 12:25 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With General Motors and Chrysler struggling, Ford is moving to pick off some of its rivals’ customers, the Detroit News reports. The firm is passing cash to its dealers to ease Chrysler owners’ loan payments—so they can pick up Fords. Ford may soon do the same for GM owners. “We’re going to be aggressive, but we’re not going to be predatory,” said an exec. More »
- GM, UAW Cut Deal on Labor, Health Care
  
  Detroit Free Press | May 21, 09 1:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Monitored by the Treasury department, General Motors and the United Auto Workers have reached a tentative deal to modify conditions of their labor contract and retiree health care trust, which could save the flatlining automaker more than $1 billion. Still, Chapter 11 bankruptcy remains likely for GM, and union reps must approve the pact, the Detroit Free Press reports. More »
- Hatch: Save the Hummer ... for the Environment
  
  Washington Post | May 21, 09 12:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Many Republicans won’t touch fuel economy issues, but not Sen. Orrin Hatch. He’s been an advocate for alternative-fuel vehicles for a decade, and yesterday got behind the wheel of the most muscular hybrid ever, reports Dana Milbank of the Washington Post . A company from Hatch’s native Utah has created a plug-in Hummer that gets 100 mpg. Just two problems: General Motors is jettisoning the Hummer brand, and Hatch apparently can’t drive. More »
- With Emissions Plan, Obama Swings for the Fences
  
  New York Times | May 19, 09 9:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The new, strict and streamlined national fuel efficiency standard President Obama will announce today could be a victory on three fronts, the Climate Change argues in a piece running on the New York Times web site. Obama will boost his climate change cred, help floundering automakers, and resolve the federal spat with California all in one fell swoop. Obama’s plan will require cars to meet a 35.5mpg by 2016, four years earlier than the previous target date. More »
- Korea Roadway Recharges Cars
  
  Reuters | May 18, 09 2:31 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - South Korean scientists are working on road technology that allows electric vehicles to continually recharge while driving, Reuters reports. Inductive charging, used with watertight electric toothbrushes, requires no contact between power source and appliance. For vehicles, electric strips would be embedded in the road at intervals, and a magnetic field would pull power into the car’s battery. The strips are safe to the touch. More »
- Obama Will Streamline Emissions, Fuel Rules for Autos
  
  Politico | May 18, 09 1:38 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama will announce plans for new national automobile fuel-economy and emissions standards tomorrow, overhauling and streamlining the current patchwork, sources tell Politico. The move will harmonize the CAFE standard and the EPA’s greenhouse-gas standard, so that struggling automakers needn’t fear the regulations moving independently. The announcement will also likely appease California, which had been asking for permission to institute its own, tougher caps. More »
- GM to Close 1,100 Dealerships
  
  Bloomberg | May 15, 09 9:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - GM has sent termination notices to 1,100 of its 6,000 US dealerships as part of its plan to eventually shutter 42% of its retail network, CNN reports. The dealers have been notified that their contracts won't be extended next October, and some will shutter this year, a GM spokesman said. The dying dealerships hold about 120,000 GM vehicles, total value $2.5 billion, and won’t close until they’ve exhausted their inventories. More »
- Minority Car Dealers Stand to Lose Big in Closures
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 14, 09 4:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - African-American and Latino car dealers will likely take a big hit in the dealership closures announced by Chrysler and planned at GM, the Wall Street Journal reports. The minority dealerships, located mainly in urban areas, have faced stiff competition as business has moved increasingly to suburbia. “We're more vulnerable,” said the president of a minority dealer group. “We were the last ones to come to the table.” More »
- Obama's Economic Policies Skirt Abuse of Power
  
  Washington Post | May 14, 09 10:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - It’s easy for President Obama to be a bold leader, given his administration's “careless regard for constitutional values” and burgeoning “tincture of lawlessness,” writes George Will in the Washington Post . Obama is pursuing a dependency agenda, he argues, “maximizing the number of people and institutions dependent on the federal government.” He recently threatened to withhold California’s stimulus money, for example, if the state didn’t reinstate a costly, corrupt program to care for the elderly. More »
- Drugs, Oil Push Dow Up 50
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 12, 09 3:15 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Financials dipped today as firms continued stock sell-offs to finance TARP repayments, but strong performance by drug and energy companies stabilized the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Merck and Pfizer were up as much as 2% and 6%, respectively; oil got a boost from $60 barrels. The Dow was up 50.34 to 8,469.11. The S&P fell 0.89 to 908.35 on bank concerns; the Nasdaq lost 15.32, ending at 1,715.92. More »
- Ford Sells Shares to Raise Cash
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 12, 09 7:09 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Eager to shore up its cash reserves, stave off bankruptcy, and further distance itself from its struggling rivals, Ford Motor Co. will offer 300 million shares in a public offering this week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ford thinks the offering will raise investor confidence, bringing in buyers who’ve given up on GM and Chrysler. Priced off of today’s close, the sale could raise between $1.7 billion and $2 billion. More »
- Foreign Bidders See Opportunity in Detroit Mess
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 7, 09 8:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With Chrysler in bankruptcy and General Motors at the precipice, foreign companies are preparing bids for parts of the US auto industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. The result will be a broad global reshuffling as companies like Italy’s Fiat, France’s Renault, and even China’s Geely buy pieces of shattered American giants. For buyers, that means more choices and lower costs. More »
- Porsche, VW to Merge
  
  BBC | May 7, 09 4:53 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Porsche has announced it will merge with Volkswagen after weeks of negotiation between the two German carmakers, reports the BBC. The deal puts an end to Porsche's efforts to take over VW. Porsche already owns a majority stake in the company. While details of the merger remain unclear, VW's individual brands—including Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini—will coexist alongside Porsche. Analysts describe the merger as a climbdown for Porsche, which had originally planned to acquire a 75% stake in Volkswagen. More »
- Are Americans Falling Out of Love With Cars?
  
  Esquire | May 6, 09 4:58 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Is the fact that Americans are driving less even after the cost of gas has come down a sign that US attitudes are changing, Nate Silver asks in Esquire —or is it just another example of how slowly they respond to changes in fuel prices? “The real test,” he writes, “will come as the summer unfolds and Americans have had time to get ‘used to’ lower gas prices.” More »