Archives: November 2008

GM brands on the block

Posted by: David Welch on November 28

The buzz in Detroit this holiday week is that General Motors will carve up its family of brands like a Thanksgiving turkey and cast away a few as dried...

Lexus Red Bow Still Coming

Posted by: David Kiley on November 26

Despite Jean Halliday's story in Ad Age this week talking about how car company advertising this holiday season will be more somber, Lexus plans to reprise its annual "red...

Toyota credit rating cut for the first time in a decade

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 26

It's not then end of the world, but Fitch Ratings decision today to cut Toyota's AAA credit rating back to AA is yet more bad news for Japan's number one...

CEO Paydays Likely Trimmed in Bailout Bid

Posted by: David Kiley on November 25

Members of Congress who oppose the bailout of the auto industry partly on the grounds that the CEOs of Detroit automakers have been making too much money and aren’t...

Ford Tops All Automakers For Safety Ratings

Posted by: David Kiley on November 25

Ford Motor Co. got another shot in the arm from Tuesday when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported the automaker had more vehicles than any other manufacturer on...

Buick cuts Tiger loose

Posted by: David Welch on November 25

At least there’s China. That’s about the only bragging point Buick has after breaking off its endorsement deal with Tiger Woods that says it’s not the stodgy moribund brand...

Planes, pain and auto executives

Posted by: David Welch on November 21

With all of the hoo-hah over corporate aircraft flying about, let’s take a look at the cost. It does add up to some big bucks. Big companies have to...

GM Corp. Planes Down To Three From Seven

Posted by: David Kiley on November 21

General Motors today said it reduced its fleet of corporate jets from five to three. The struggling automaker drew fire this week from Congress when the CEOs of all...

Italian silliness: Maserati says its cars can help (deserate) men pick up women

Posted by: David Welch on November 21

Need something on the lighter side during this maelstrom of bad economic news? I gotchyer comic relief right here. It’s no secret that owning an expensive car can improve...

Romney on Auto Bailout: Feds Should Guarantee Fan Belts But Not Healthcare

Posted by: David Kiley on November 21

http:// Earlier this week, former Massachusetts Governor and Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney chimed in, via a New York Times op-ed column, with his argument for letting Detroit’s automakers go...

Where's Lee Iacocca when you need him?

Posted by: David Welch on November 20

Anyone who watched the Congressional hearings for a Detroit bailout will understand why Congress is waiting to vote and demanding a business plan before they approve a bridge loan....

Congress and the disingenuous blame game

Posted by: David Welch on November 19

Defending Detroit on anything these days is about as popular as justifying the big post-bailout party at AIG. But let me take a stab at some of the disingenuous...

As Detroit Asks for Help: The Silent Elephants in the Room

Posted by: David Kiley on November 19

Inside the hearing room on Tuesday where the CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler asked for government loans to help them bridge the Recession, there were two elephants in the...

Chrysler Is On Life Support

Posted by: David Kiley on November 18

Chrysler LLC will soon be operating on life support without a loan from the U.S. government. Based on revelations by CEO Robert Nardelli today in a Senate Banking Committee hearing,...

Big Three Exec Pay Will Be An Issue in Bailout

Posted by: David Kiley on November 18

Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd told CEOs of the Big Three automakers today during auto industry bailout hearings that their compensation will be an issue for lawmakers who will...

As Ford Reduces Stake, Mazda Appoints New CEO, Replaces U.S. Execs

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 18

Here's an update on the speculation surrounding Ford and Mazda. Mazda held a press conference this evening in Hiroshima, which confirmed that Ford will sell a 20% stake in the...

Ford's Mazda Share Sale Imminent?

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 18

Another day, another stock sale? Reports in in Tokyo say Ford is about to confirm that it will reduce its stake in Mazda from 33.4% to 13.4%. Rumors of the...

GM Buys 8.6 Days By Selling Suzuki Stake

Posted by: David Kiley on November 17

GM is selling its 3% stake in Japanese automaker Suzuki, which will raise about $230 million. Gm has had an investment in Suzuki since 1981. At one point, it held...

GM To Sell The Rest of its Suzuki Stake

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 17

Recent talk surrounding carmakers selling stakes in Japan has revolved around rumors that Ford may cash in part of its stake in Mazda. Today, though, Suzuki revealed that it is...

Obama to Detroit: No cash for business as usual

Posted by: David Welch on November 16

The drumbeat is getting louder for bigger change in the U.S. auto industry if the government steps in with a bailout plan this week. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich...

GM: Are You Out There??

Posted by: David Kiley on November 12

I had a couple of conversations and e-mail exchanges with people inside General Motors and with those doing business with GM about the fact that the company is getting its...

Taking On The NYT's Tom Friedman's Indictment of Detroit

Posted by: David Kiley on November 12

I am a huge admirer of The New York Times Tom Friedman. His books and the vast majority of his columns on the paper’s Op-Ed pages are insightful, and provocative....

Govt. Bailout Won't Make The Chrysler Issue Go Away

Posted by: David Kiley on November 12

Politics over the proposed bailout of the auto industry may cost the tax-payers billion of extra money they need not spend. Next week, Congress will convene in a lame-duck session...

Bush: I'll Trade You Detroit for Colombia?

Posted by: David Kiley on November 11

If news reports this morning are correct, the Bush Administration is willing to trade a loan bailout for Detroit, which it has opposed, for a Congressional cave-in on a trade...

GM shelves Chrysler talks in a play for government cash

Posted by: David Welch on November 07

When General Motors announced its $4.3 billion third-quarter loss—and the conflagration of almost $7 billion in cash that went with it--the company also said that talks to acquire Chrysler...

GM-Chrysler...Studebaker-Nash?

Posted by: David Kiley on November 06

I was searching for something via Google and came across this passage from a 1954 edition of Time Magazine. Given all the "rationale" surrounding a GM-Chrysler merger, it is worth...

Even Toyota gets the blues part IV

Posted by: David Welch on November 06

Here’s a post for the readers who work for the Big Three automakers and complain that Toyota’s bad news doesn’t make the press. It does. Toyota reported earnings for...

$15-$20 Billion Looking Cheap To Bailout Detroit.

Posted by: David Kiley on November 06

Fifteen billion dollars to sure up Detroit's Big Three automakers is starting to look like a bargain. On top of $25 billion in loans that the Department of Energy is...

Even With Lots Choked With GM Cars, The 2011 Volt Gets Ad Dollars

Posted by: David Kiley on November 06

General Motors is fighting for its financial life. It had the worst month of sales when adjusted for cars sold per capita since they started tracking such things after...

Will Japan's carmakers catch bailout fever?

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 06

Yet more grim earnings news in Japan today. Toyota, the last of Japan's automakers to post its half-year results, has slashed its operating profit outlook by over 70% to $6.1...

GM in survival mode

Posted by: David Welch on November 05

Desperate times call for desperate measures. General Motors Corp. will announce some tough actions this Friday, Nov. 7, when the company announces its third quarter earnings. Losses are expected...

A few more questions for that bailout hearing

Posted by: David Welch on November 05

My colleague David Kiley raises some very good questions for Detroit’s heads of state and some veteran industry watchers. While I think a bailout for the industry is needed...

Gas Prices Finding Their Way Below $2.00 Per Gallon.

Posted by: David Kiley on November 05

Don’t look now, but some U.S. drivers are finding gasoline today priced at less than $2.00 per gallon. How’d that happen? I was moved to check the national scene when...

Let's Have Public Hearings On Auto Industry Bailout

Posted by: David Kiley on November 04

If the U.S. Big Three automakers want bailout help from the Federal government they should submit to at least an afternoon of new public hearings. Automakers were heard from in...

One Scary October

Posted by: David Welch on November 03

October was an ugly month, a very ugly month. Car sales dropped 32% as consumer confidence hit an all-time low (at least, for as long as someone has kept...

Money is Money To GM and Chrysler

Posted by: David Kiley on November 03

Most of the news coverage and rhetoric about the government’s help of General Motors misses the point. Take the “news” over the weekend as reported by Reuters and The...