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April 2009
- Banks, Treasury Play Chicken on Chrysler Deal
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 22, 09 7:46 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A group of big banks balked at the Treasury’s proposal that they slash 85% of Chrysler’s debt, the government’s second such request. Instead, in what the Wall Street Journal calls a “significant act of brinkmanship” as an April 30 deadline looms, the banks, including bailout recipients Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, offered to cut just 35%—to $4.5 billion rather than $1 billion—and asked for a 40% equity stake in return. More »
- Death Traps Vs. Gas Guzzlers Split Automakers
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 21, 09 11:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In the push to curb America’s fuel intake, consumers must often make a choice between safety and fuel economy, Joseph White writes in the Wall Street Journal . The real problem, though, may be that small cars have to share the road with SUVs. “A much bigger issue is the incompatibility between truck-based SUVs and cars of any size,” says a researcher. More »
- Chrysler Gets New Aid, but End May Loom
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 21, 09 7:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Obama administration has given a further $500 million to keep Chrysler afloat, but Washington signaled yesterday it increasingly believes Chrysler will not survive as an independent company. Treasury officials met yesterday with CEO Robert Nardelli, as well as the heads of the United Auto Workers and Italian automaker Fiat. If it fails to strike a deal with Fiat, Chrysler could file for bankruptcy or liquidation by next week. More »
- Chrysler Execs Spurn $750M Fed Loan Over Pay Limits
  
  Washington Post | Apr 20, 09 4:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Chrysler's financing arm has turned down a $750 million federal loan in order to skirt limits on executive pay, sources tell the Washington Post. Fearing that an earlier $1.5 billion loan was running out, the Treasury offered Chrysler Financial the extra credit about 2 weeks ago, attaching strict compensation limits. But 25 top executives refused to sign waivers regarding their own paychecks. More »
- Five '70s Cars That Plain Suck
  
  Wired | Apr 19, 09 1:06 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The 1970s was "a decade of excess mediocrity in so many quarters it's hard to catalog it all," Tony Borroz writes in Wired . But you can start with the cars. Here follow five total flops. Ford Mustang Cobra II: "An over-glorified Pinto" that made a "mockery of the venerable Cobra name" and the car "that launched the pony car revolution." Mercury Bobcat: Basically a Pinto, but "by porking up the platform by that much, Mercury succeeded at making a bad car even worse." More »
- Volkswagen Challenges Toyota's No. 1 Ranking
  
  Reuters | Apr 17, 09 12:36 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Volkswagen may have beaten Toyota in global sales in the first quarter, Reuters reports. Although VW sales declined overall, the company's market share increased to 11% with 1.39 million vehicles sold. Toyota has not released sales figures, but it estimated its first-quarter sales at 1.23 million. Volkswagen had aimed to become the top-selling automaker by 2018, but the goal looked far off in 2008, when the firm lagged Toyota by 3 million units sold. More »
- Bailed-Out Banks Don't Want to Bail Out Chrysler
  
  Washington Post | Apr 17, 09 7:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Auto task force Steven Rattner's request that four big banks write off their $7 billion debt to Chrysler in return for nothing met with a big no from dropped jaws, reports the Washington Post . JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs are seeking a better deal, but critics argue that the banks rescued by the government should now help the government rescue Chrysler. More »
- Taxpayers Must Become Activist Investors: Icahn
  
  Huffington Post | Apr 16, 09 11:05 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barney Frank was right when he said a retention bonus is “a nice word, it turns out, for extortion,” writes Carl Icahn for the Huffington Post. “Very few managers are irreplaceable, especially in this economy”—so why do they get paid extra to stay with a company they've run into the ground? “In many cases, the companies are better off without them,” Icahn contends. More »
- Okla. Private Equity Firm Bids for Saturn Brand
  
  Los Angeles Times | Apr 16, 09 6:24 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A private equity firm is making a bid to buy General Motors' Saturn brand, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Oklahoma company, Black Oak Partners—which says it has gone public in the hopes of stopping dealers from abandoning the brand—is the first known suitor for any of the brands GM is seeking to offload, which also include Hummer and Saab. The auto maker says it is weighing "a handful" of offers. More »
- Models—Human and Auto— Take Bailout Flak at Car Show
  
  New York Times | Apr 14, 09 9:10 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Crowds hostile about the state of America’s auto industry have made presenting at auto shows a much trickier job than it used to be, the New York Times reports. The eye-candy models at scaled-back exhibits from General Motors and Chrysler are fielding questions during the ongoing New York event about the bailout, bankruptcy, corporate governance, and even the role of gas-guzzlers in causing the Iraq war. More »
- Feds May Trade Debt for Stake in 'New' GM
  
  Bloomberg | Apr 14, 09 5:35 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Obama administration is considering trading some of GM’s $13.4 billion government debt for equity in the streamlined, post-restructuring version of the automaker, Bloomberg reports. Insiders say the move, which would be accompanied by an offer to bondholders of equity in the new entity, is part of a plan to cut GM's debt ahead of a June 1 deadline to demonstrate its viability. More »
- Banks Rally, But Dow Falls 26
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 13, 09 3:19 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - More bankruptcy rumblings from General Motors sent stocks down early today, but the blow was cushioned by good news from the financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reports. Citi and Bank of America had double-digit gains ahead of what are expected to be solid earnings reports. The Dow finished down 25.57 at 8,057.81; the Nasdaq rose 0.77, to 1,653.31; and the S&P 500 gained 2.17 to 858.73. More »
- GM Aims for Fastest Possible Bankruptcy
  
  New York Times | Apr 13, 09 7:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - General Motors is in high gear, the New York Times reports, prepping for a possible bankruptcy that would allow the company to reorganize and emerge from protection in as little as 2 weeks. Since the Treasury Department instructed the automaker to prepare for a bankruptcy filing by June 1, in case other options for reorganization don't work out, the focus has been on a quick turnaround, so that the company's image and sales are damaged as little as possible. More »
- Mileage Be Damned, SUV Remains American Darling
  
  MSNBC | Apr 11, 09 5:48 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Despite predictions of its demise, the SUV is alive and well at the New York auto show this year, Dan Carney writes for MSNBC. Sure, more fuel-efficient models of classic 4x4s make up the majority of the cars on display, but reports that the gas guzzler is passé, emanating from “literary critics, Broadway choreographers, and other practitioners of the bedrock industries that built this country” are greatly exaggerated. According to one website that tracks such things, half of Americans shopping for new cars are looking at crossovers and SUVs. More »
- Obama Snaps Up 17,600 Fuel-Efficient US Cars
  
  Washington Post | Apr 10, 09 7:56 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama announced yesterday that the government plans to buy up 17,600 American-made hybrid and fuel-efficient cars for the federal fleet, reports the Washington Post . In addition to being a way to get some more money to the automakers, the plan will boost the efficiency of the government fleet by at least 10%, saving 1.3 million gallons of gas a year. "On the big scale," though, says an analyst, "no, that's not going to change anyone's bottom line." More »
- Feds Put the Squeeze on Auto Creditors
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 10, 09 6:14 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The government is pushing hard to wring billions of dollars in concessions from the creditors of General Motors and Chrysler, the Wall Street Journal reports. Insiders say Treasury has pushed GM to offer bondholders only stock in return for debt after it judged as too generous a deal involving stock, new debt, and some cash. More »
- GM in 'Intense' Planning for Bankruptcy
  
  Reuters | Apr 7, 09 1:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - General Motors is making “intense” and “earnest” preparations for the possibility of bankruptcy, a source tells Reuters today. The firm could be divided into a “new” and “old” GM, another insider said: The new company would be home to the firm’s healthiest units and take on some debt from bankruptcy, while the old company would house GM’s less-successful units. More »
- Hoe-town: 10K-Acre Farm Eyed for Detroit
  
  Business Green | Apr 7, 09 5:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Motor City could turn into Maize City if a Michigan investment group has its way and turns 10,000 acres of largely deserted streets into farm plots, reports BusinessGreen. Hanz Group hopes eventually to acquire almost 10% of Detroit's 143 square miles for development into cropland, Christmas tree and lumber plots, gardens and riding trails. More »
- Media World Braced for Loss Of GM, Chrysler Ad Buys
  
  Advertising Age | Apr 6, 09 9:34 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As the situation in Detroit becomes increasingly perilous, media companies are anxiously waiting to see what happens to the vast marketing dollars—$3 billion in the US last year—General Motors and Chrysler previously poured into advertising. But while vastly decreased spending seems like a foregone conclusion, most media companies have seen this coming, and have taken steps to minimize damage to their bottom lines, Advertising Age reports. More »
- Car Lovers Just Don't Get Keyed Up Anymore
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 4, 09 6:15 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Where have all the car buffs gone? For many, the allure of that new car smell is fading: Figures show new-vehicle sales are down 38%, and despite warranties lasting 7 or 10 years, 40% of last year’s trade-ins were less than 4 years old. But recession is only partly to blame for the decline of the "tuner, motor head, speed freak, buff, nut and zealot," Kevin Helliker writes in the Wall Street Journal . More »