The Canadian Auto Workers and the Big Three have kicked off labor talks, with the CAW taking a hard line against concessions – a position that some say, could lead to a lack of future in investment in Canadian auto manufacturing.
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Tag: general motors
Last week, Jalopnik ran a story bemoaning the loss of Joel Ewanick, complete with some appropriately DeLorean-esque winks towards possible conspiracy and a note that Mr. Ewanick just busted out a $1.4 million mortgage for a home in Detroit. This doesn’t seem like a good deal; surely $1.4 mil should get you, oh, I don’t know, 1,400 homes in Detroit.
What was so great about the guy who apparently green-lit “Chevy Runs Deep”? Perhaps a look into what GM once considered to be good marketing copy will offer some insight.
If you’re a regular reader of TTAC, one of the Best & the Brightest, you probably know that the Fisker Karma’s range extender is a 2.0 liter turbo Ecotec engine supplied by General Motors. What you probably don’t know is that GM’s relationship with Fisker goes beyond that of a vendor and a customer. That’s because GM owns part of Fisker. Okay, technically speaking General Motors owns a minority interest in a company that was once Fisker’s majority owner and that still holds an equity stake in the startup EV maker. Regardless of the details, that still counts as GM having an interest in Fisker’s success or failure.
The latest chapter of the Joel Ewanick saga is unfolding courtesy of Bloomberg. Our long-suffering marketing chief appears to have been sacked in part because he committed the heinous crime of buying cheap furniture.
An Automotive News article on the second anniversary of GM CEO Dan Akerson’s tenure sheds some light on the genesis of the Chevrolet Malibu Eco, and the puzzling decision to stagger the launch of the new mid-size sedan.
What’s up this month at GM? Inventories of full-size trucks. What’s not? Sales of full-size trucks.
How strange that on a day full of Joel Ewanick related news, an old face pops up at a crosstown rival.
Forget the cascade of poor reviews that have apparently hampered the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco; the biggest detriment to the new car’s success might be the outgoing model, and the steep discounts being offered on the 2012 ‘Bu.
Automotive News is reporting that Joel Ewanick has left General Motors. Ewanick was hired away from Nissan (who had just hired him away from Hyundai) to bring fresh thinking to GM’s marketing and advertising efforts.
With 25 percent of its manufacturing capabilities in Canada, Chrysler would be hardest hit in the event of a strike by the Canadian Auto Workers union.
Today’s Chart comes from finance blog Zero Hedge, which has taken a periodic interest in General Motors channel stuffing endeavors. While we don’t normally report on stock prices here at TTAC, this one is worth mentioning.
The closing of the Oshawa Consolidated Line supposedly had GM in the bailout doghouse – the company was supposed to maintain a certain level of production in Canada according to the terms of their bailout package. As far as we know, GM hasn’t replenished that yet, but they are throwing the Canadian federal and Ontario governments a bone by investing an undisclosed nine-figure sum into R&D at Oshawa.
A lawsuit filed by a Florida investor against General Motors over the age-old practice of “channel stuffing”, or sending inventory to dealers and recording it as a “sale”, so that revenue numbers can be pumped up while the vehicles languish on dealer lots. The practice of channel stuffing is universal in the auto industry, but in this case, the consequences are much broader.
Bloomberg is reporting that General Motors and Facebook are talking again, in an attempt to get GM to resume advertising on the social network. Meetings between GM CEO Dan Akerson and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg were being reported.
GM’s Dan Akerson spoke to the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board on Thursday, and discussed both compressed natural gas capabilities, and the need to streamline powertrains in the post-bankruptcy era.
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