GM's given the media a heads-up that CEO Rick Wagoner is about to outline "actions to better align the business to the current market conditions" (i.e. reveal their new new new new new turnaround plan). It's a bit of a bitch, as I have a General Motors Death Watch queued-up for your dining and dancing pleasure. Rest assured I'll have TTAC's take on Wagoner's latest pre-apocalypse prevarications minutes after the other shoe hangs in the air. Meanwhile, it's worth noting that Automotive News [sub] scribe Jamie Lareau felt obliged to preview the forthcoming cut and shunt by stating "The message is not likely to be an announcement of management changes or that GM is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a source familiar with GM told Automotive News today. The news will be 'fairly upbeat,' the source said." That's a mind-boggling bit of writing on two levels. First, you know it's bad when a generally supportive member of the automotive press feels obliged to tell people you're not choosing the nuclear option. And second, what the Hell could Wagoner say that could possibly be "upbeat?" The only good news on any GM front is that sales overseas are up– foreign ops without which GM would have a negative market capitalization.
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And second, what the Hell could Wagoner say that could possibly be “upbeat?”
Try “Goodbye”
What does TTAC’s inside source say?
The message is not likely to be an announcement of management changes or that GM is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection….
Weird to point out they likely won’t be filing for Chapter 11. I guess that means the possibility exist this soon. 200-1? 100-1? 50-1?
It leaves me a little sick in my mouth realizing the day more than likely coming.
Pig_Iron:
What does TTAC’s inside source say?
Plant cuts, white collar cuts, and Saab in North America jettisoned. Dividend cut also. Stock price will jump.
I honestly believe that this is an exercise in damage control – nothing more.
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AGM
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121606580146551841.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us_business
Rick will tell us “Sure, things are tough, but we’re super smart! And doing the best that can be expected. Please stop selling the stock….”
“job cuts, production cuts, new product announcements with an outside chance of a dividend cut/suspension.”
Well what would anyone else do? Sounds like a corporate play book to me. Then the media will play it back as “doing something,” and stock will go up.
Then in a couple of days, it’ll resume it’s direction.
I think that they’ll try to put more of a gap between the rest of Global and N/A Operations. A line of business demarcation if you will.
This business of a new turnaround plan every 6 months is just so absurd. First of all it suggests that they still have some credibility, which they’ve long since pissed away (probably after plan 3 or 4). They’ve turned GM into the laughingstock of the automotive industry.
According to: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807141829DOWJONESDJONLINE000614_FORTUNE5.htm
“The expected white-collar job cuts are likely to hit the auto maker’s U.S. engineering operations hard, the sources said.”
The very people that should NOT be hit at all.
It should be the board of directors, upper management, and middle operations managers, in that order. Anyone in upper management with an MBA should be removed and those in middle management with engineering degrees should be moved up. The very LAST chance they would have to avoid chapter (11 or 7).
“The message is not likely to be an announcement of management changes or that GM is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a source familiar with GM told Automotive News today. The news will be ‘fairly upbeat,’ the source said.”
This reminds me of the New York Mets calling a press conference to say they won’t be firing then manager Willie Randolph that week. Three weeks later, Willie was looking for a new job.
If you’re calling a press conference and a pre-conference source says that it is unlikely your company will announce a bankruptcy plan, things aren’t going well, to say the least.
Perhaps Rick’s upbeat message will be his rendition of “Peanut Butter Jelly Time”.
I’m sure Wagoner and gang will cherry pick news and provide unprovable actions to be able to measure progress. In Wagoner’s world of unclear objectives meaning measurement is subjective and if your bosses are your golf buddies and live in the same protected world as he does then does it matter what the public thinks.
Hmmm
This is going to sound a bit.. odd..
Why doesnt someone just put a giant forsale sign on GM HQ, and a big ol KICK ME sign on the back of of the top 3 dingus at GM and call it a day!
I swear.. I know bankruptcy is going to happen, but Im getting very antsy about when, how and who else is going to get fcked. Not like hundreds of thousands havent been dbl fked already!
Only people I feel bad for are the autowkers themselves.. talk about needing some lube…
Poor bastards.
Accords,
That sound you hear is the sound of Barak and McCain preparing to wank the public into thinking we “need” to save GM. Only there will be no lube used.
Good times.
The fact that it’s come out that GM is sharing the lead as the no. 1 brand in the largest Euro market – Russia, is the cause for celebration I think. ANY good news is rushed to the front as it were.
Sad, and irrelevant to N.A. operations.
Update, courtesy The Mercury News:
“The people briefed on the plan said GM will further reduce its truck production to focus more on small cars. Wagoner will announce that the company will further cut factory capacity at pickup and sport utility vehicle assembly plants, although no specific plant closures are expected to be announced, one of the people briefed on the plan said. GM also intends to make cuts at factories that supply truck plants, such as those that make engines, transmissions and parts, that person said.
GM also will detail plans to raise more cash to fund its restructuring. Along with the expense cuts, the plans likely will include asset sales, but GM is not expected to borrow with assets as collateral, the people said. The people requested anonymity because the plan was not yet public.”
Hmm, I wonder if there will be one fewer shift in Oshawa. Poor Mikey.
The other day somebody mentioned,that Rick W could be held libel if GM was planing to file chapter 11,while Rick adamantly denies it.
Is there any truth to that statement?
Here in Oshawa things are crazy.Truck plant is down for an extra week.Truck is back next week scheduled to go to one shift in Sept.Plan is,a year later to shut down forever?
The flex/ Camaro plant is still under construction.The 3 shift Impala plant has got Saturdays scheduled through the summer.Go figure.
The rumour mill is on fire with buy outs,contracts,insourcing,outsourcing hourly/salary
low seniority WTF knows?
Me thinks tommorow the whole fkn picture changes
Maybe old RedInk Rick is trying to soften the blow of the second quarter financial results that will be out soon. Kinda like announcing some fancy new program that will deflect press attention from looking at the meaning of the results. Stock will go up for a few days but then it will head back where it has been going for some time. Just buying time until the officers abandon the crew and passengers on this sinking ship.
anybody know when this bit of PR spin will be
delivered? I would like to be watching the
ticker about then. anybody? thanks
CEO Rick Wagoner is about to outline “actions to better align the business to the current market conditions”
Should mean that he and Lutzie are leaving, eh?
But no such luck.
With 150 banks teetering on the edge of the precipice, and GM finding no cheap money to throw after its customers, the writing is finally on the wall for Upbeat Rick.
“the plans likely will include asset sales,”
Assets? What assets?
# Nemphre Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 12:13 am
“the plans likely will include asset sales,”
Assets? What assets?
Bob’s throwing in his two trainer jets to keep things afloat.
Asset sales could be code for Saab, perhaps?
In the next 24 months GM will have a reduction of in structual costs of over $7 billion dollars a year from the new labor contract putting GM on par with the imports in the U.S. If any company in any industry had a $7 billion disadvantage compared to it’s competition it would be in trouble. Some say GM did it to themselves, try again it was not that simple, could you imagine the outcry if GM had cut pay to the levels of the imports in it’s factories 10 years ago, they would have been the villian to every American. We will see if GM can survive the next 2 years and if so it then can compete with the rest of the world much better.
roar
Interesting quote from the Rabid one…
Wagoner said the company believes the trend away from trucks and SUVs in the U.S. market is permanent and that the company is responding, with 18 cars or crossovers in development. But he said GM never could have predicted how quickly the change would come as oil prices doubled in the last year.
“We missed that, but I think us and 99.999 percent of the rest of the people in the world did too,” he said.
Really?? 99.99%? Did Honda miss this? Did Toyota (well, discount the Tundra perhaps)? Hyundai? Maybe 99.99% of the people in DETROIT missed this, but that’s it.
Just realized the wording. OK so Chapter 11 is not going to be declared. Doesn’t say Chapter 7 is not going to be declared.
Check out this nightmare scenario: “Assets sold” = GM selling out “other than North American” operations to SAIC in China (you know, the people with tons of dollars rapidly evaporating in value that they want to unload for something tangible).
Then GMNA goes Chapter 7 and GM-SAIC (with wholly owned Holden of Australia, Opel, GMDaewoo/Chevrolet and Vauxhall badge for the UK) continues on to be a reasonably successful and profitable company.
Of course, the money GMNA obtains for GM-other-than-NA is simply enough to keep the higher ups out of prison once Chapter 7 is declared. And they go off to live in the sunshine in Bermuda with their golden parachutes.
Meanwhile thousands of GM dealers, millions of GM owners and thousands of GM workers in the US, Canada and Mexico are royally screwed.
Sound like it’s plausible (perhaps not for this particular chapter, but for the next one or the one after)?
As for this chapter, yeah, I think Saab is finito, at least in the United States, and perhaps GM has lined up a buyer to take Saab off their hands for a few shekels. Maybe FIAT? TATA? M&M? Chery?
That’s about all the “assets” that GM can spare. They’ve sold off all of the family silver, not to mention the family jewels (51% of GMAC). Of course, the family jewels had cancer, but hey, wadayagonado?
Announcement was nebulous. No defined changes other than salary retiree health benefit cuts and no dividend.