As far as the GM bankruptcy issue goes, the number of suppliers affected by the impending closure is countless. However, as a business, that is not all that General Motors has to worry about. Remember that for any corporation or business, debts go far beyond auto suppliers. Some may not even be aligned with the auto manufacturing binge something which was revealed as far as the growing concern on the GM row.

GM has over $100 million in debts, a large chunk of which is from the advertising sector. Date back and you will notice the aggressive nature of advertising and promotional practice that popular businesses undertake and General Motors is among that niche.

Among the company’s top 50 creditors, 10 are outside the auto or transportation industries. GM owes these firms just under $250 million. But they have to take a back seat in the bankruptcy process.

Given that figure alone, you can imagine why the GM bankruptcy filing is taking quite a beating. A lot of businesses stand to lose a lot from the GM mess. And mind you, not all of them are from car parts sector.

(Source) CNN

Tags: 100 million, aggressive nature, Auto Suppliers, back seat, bankruptcy filing, bankruptcy process, binge, business debts, car parts, chunk, creditors, General Motors, GM, growing concern, impending closure, transportation industries

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With the much anticipated bankruptcy filing of General Motors, a lot of people are expecting all the marquee brands under its wing to likewise suffer the same fate. This of course excludes the ones held up for sale but if there is one brand that is staying put, it is that of the Holden brand.

Holden is a familiar brand in Australia. And despite the hoopla surrounding the GM brand, Holden is not folding nor being tagged for new ownership. In fact, it looks like the Holden brand is looking forward to the new GM which will be launched in the U.S.

The managing director of GM Holden even stressed that there would be other plans for the company. He stressed that they would concentrate on manufacturing a four-cylinder car in Adelaide from 2010, improving technology across the popular Commodore range and launching its Cruze model.

Holden employs more than 6000 people in Australia, including 3100 in South Australia with the balance spread across other states, particularly Victoria.

So if there is one GM brand to stay, it will be Holden at least for now.

(Source) Stuff

Tags: adelaide, bankruptcy filing, commodore, cylinder car, General Motors, GM, gm holden, managing director, victoria

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It’s no secret that GM was in probably the worst state it could possibly be in before it was forced to declare bankruptcy with the US Government. So what is a company to do with such a tarnished reputation? Well, announce that they are reinventing themselves and release a whole bunch of promotion material asserting the fact.

What you see above is a 1-minute long video introducing GMs future attempts to make the company great again. It details how GM is going to give the American car its “rebirth” as they move towards fewer brands and models and more fuel efficient cars.

You can read more about the reinvetion at www.gmreinvention.com.

Tags: bankruptcy filing, economy, rebirth, recession, reinvent

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A dispute between GM bondholders and the U.S. government all but doomed the falling fortunes of embattled car giant General Motors as the two parties failed to come up with an amicable settlement for the proper stakes of the company.

The government had asked GM to submit a plan that 90 percent of its bondholders would agree upon which unfortunately was way off the expected agreement. With that said, GM is expected to head to bankruptcy in the following days, a move that many are expecting.

This new development only further upholds that the stimulus plan that was handed over to the Big Three some months ago went for nothing at all. Already highly controversial, the move was already highly criticized and with this impending Chapter 11 filing of GM, they and Chrysler have all but wasted the said aid, leaving Ford all by its lonesome although they too are surely to be having problems financially.

A person familiar with discussions between GM and the government told The Associated Press any bankruptcy filing would probably come around the government’s Monday deadline for GM to finish restructuring or enter court protection. The person asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

To avoid bankruptcy, the government had said GM must shed debt, cut labor costs and close plants.

(Source) Yahoo

Tags: amicable settlement, bankruptcy filing, bondholders, car giant, Chapter 11, Chrysler, falling fortunes, Ford, General Motors, GM, plants, rejection, restructuring, stimulus plan

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The companies which have acted as suppliers for Chrysler are starting to feel the crunch as some of them are now closing down. Cummins Inc. today announced a number of job actions affecting its manufacturing operations in Southern Indiana. The Company is temporarily closing the Columbus MidRange Engine Plant (CMEP) in Walesboro, just outside Columbus, as a result of Chrysler’s decision last week to idle its manufacturing operations while it undergoes bankruptcy reorganization.

CMEP is the sole manufacturing site for the 6.7-liter turbo diesel engine used in the heavy-duty Dodge Ram pickup truck. The plant will close effective May 15 and be down until Chrysler resumes pickup truck production.

Chrysler’s Dodge Ram manufacturing plant in Saltillo, Mexico, which closed Monday, is expected to be idle for at least four weeks and Chrysler has indicated that its entire manufacturing operation could remain closed for nine weeks or longer.

The shutdown affects a total of approximately 690 workers at CMEP. Cummins will layoff approximately 610 hourly workers – 560 members of the Diesel Workers Union and 50 members of the Office Committee Union. The Company plans to redeploy as many of the 80 exempt employees in the plant as possible throughout its Southern Indiana operations.

These job reductions are in response to further weakening demand for engines and components as a result of the global recession, and are consistent with our efforts to align manufacturing capacity and costs with that lower demand.

(Source) Press

Tags: bankruptcy filing, bankruptcy reorganization, cmep, cummins inc, demand source, Dodge Ram, exempt employees, global recession, indiana operations, layoff, manufacturing plant, midrange, nine weeks, ram pickup, ram pickup truck, saltillo mexico, southern indiana, turbo diesel engine, workers union

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Though General Motors denies it and continues to claim that it can restructure itself to weather the financial crisis, the U.S. government thinks otherwise. In fact, the US Treasury Department has told General Motors to make all necessary preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing by June 1.

Citing unnamed people “with knowledge of the plans,” the instructions had been conveyed by members of President Barack Obama?s automotive task force, who spent last week in meetings and on conference calls with GM in Detroit and Washington.

The automaker already has been granted 13.4 billion dollars in federal aid, and its managers are insisting the company’s image should not be damaged. The preparations are aimed at assuring a GM bankruptcy filing is ready should the company be unable to reach agreement with bondholders to exchange roughly 28 billion dollars in debt into equity in GM and with the United Automobile Workers union, which has balked at granting concessions without sacrifices from bondholders.

(Source) AFP

Tags: automobile workers, bankruptcy filing, Barack Obama, billion dollars, bondholders, concessions, financial crisis, General Motors, GM, necessary preparations, us treasury department, workers union

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