Auto Industry Archive

The latest plan from General Motors would make U.S. taxpayers majority owners of GM. That level of government ownership is something new under the sun, and not just in the United States. Even in Europe, where government ownership has been much more common, it has typically been in the form of a “golden share” that constitutes a corporate veto – not outright majority ownership. It...

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What auto company would not kill for 60 percent growth in 2008? Admittedly, the numbers aren’t huge, but Italian motorcycle maker Piaggio Group (whose brands include Vespa, Moto Guzzi and Aprilia) sold 21,000 scooters, mopeds and bigger bikes in the U.S. last year, up from just 12,000 in 2007. “That was a good result, because it shows the ever-increasing size of the U.S. market for...

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Under General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson, bankruptcy has gone from unmentionable to a bargaining chip. GM today offered its bondholders shares of stock instead of cash, for about $27 billion worth of bonds. The net effect would be to reduce GM’s debt by about $24 billion, Henderson said. The upshot is, unless bondholders representing at least 90 percent of GM’s debt agree to the...

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BNET Auto’s Two Jims — Jim Henry and Jim Motavalli — have had a busy week. If you’ve been paying attention, you already know about Jim Motavalli’s on-air sparring with Neil Cavuto of Fox Business over global warming and the auto industry’s response. Meanwhile, Jim Henry’s been popping up on radio stations around the country, explaining the depth of the...

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Ford says it can continue to forgo government loans, and that it is still on track to reach its goal of “breakeven or better” in North America by 2011. But if Chrysler is forced to declare bankruptcy – which looks increasingly likely – that would have a knock-on effect on Ford’s progress toward its goals. In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in December 2008,...

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As reported here, Porsche chose to introduce its new four-door Panamera sedan not in the U.S. or Europe, but at the Auto Shanghai show in China (which runs through April 28). Why? Because China is an important market for luxury cars—and an increasingly important player in the global auto wars. And a lot of the action is green. China has the world’s fastest growing auto market (with 11...

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Chrysler, the UAW, and the even more militant Canadian Auto Workers union seem determined figuratively to gouge, eye-poke and kick each other in the shins, right up to Chrysler’s May 1 date with bankruptcy. Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli and Co-president Tom LaSorda wrote a letter to CAW members last week, asking them to match labor rates with Toyota Canada. According to Chrysler, Chrysler...

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What journalist doesn’t want his or her five minutes on Fox? I’ve long watched the environmentally oriented guests struggle to adapt themselves to the network’s steroid-driven style. But you can’t win on Fox by timidly citing arcane scientific data, even if it’s correct. You have to be move fast and go for the jugular. Anything less and you’re going to get...

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Some of the nation’s biggest financial institutions are taking heat because they have balked at government-proposed terms for a continued bailout of Chrysler. Gary Peters, a U.S. Congressman from Michigan, said it was “an affront to taxpayers” that J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley refused to accept a widely reported offer of 15 cents on the dollar for...

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This is Earth Day at Bnet.com, and it’s a chance to celebrate all that the auto industry has accomplished on behalf of our beleaguered planet. After more than two decades of SUV indulgence, the Big Three are not only turning green, but have decided it’s good business. Remember, it was business as usual that got them to the brink of bankruptcy. General Motors is poised to introduce the...

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