TTAC readers who followed our past reporting on the developing relationship between Daimler and the Renault/Nissan Alliance will not be surprised in hearing what Carlos Ghosn and Dieter Zetsche told the press today. If you think you’ve heard it all before, you are right. You did here. (Read More…)
GM’s Susan Docherty, who is in charge of Chevrolet Europe, is shocked by GM alliance partner PSA Peugeot Citroen. PSA, along with Fiat, are producing “very scary numbers” with discounts of as much as 30 percent off gross sale prices, Docherty told Bloomberg. Opel’s numbers can be even scarier. (Read More…)
TTAC has written many times about the growing dependency on China, and now there is a voice that says that GM is more enslaved to China than it is to Washington. (Read More…)
TTAC maintains its long-held forecast that Toyota will regain the title of world’s largest automaker by the end the year, with a combined group production of around 10 million units. This trend was confirmed today by TMC’s announcement of August 2012 data. The race will tighten up, but not because of huge sales gains by runner-ups GM and Volkswagen. Policy decisions in Tokyo and Beijing will likely cause Toyota to slow down. (Read More…)
Throwing investment advice of eminent experts such as the LA Times editorial board and former GM CEO Ed Whitacre in the wind, the Treasury will not sell its holdings in GM as recommended, but hold on to the stock. Why? For the same reasons that prompt smaller scale investors to hold on: The Treasury “expects the stock to rise in the future due to a roll-out of several new vehicles,” people familiar with Treasury’s thinking told Reuters. (Read More…)
Today, GM and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC opened what GM China President Kevin Wale called “China’s largest proving ground.“ The test track west of Shanghai did cost about $252.5 million, Reuters says. Automakers are busy turning China into test track central, but Milford may be passed by a German track. (Read More…)
The CAW and General Motors have reached a tentative agreement, sticking closely to the “pattern” set by negotiations between Ford and the CAW.
Ed Whitacre, the former CEO of General Motors in the post-bailout era, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging the U.S. Treasury to sell its shares in General Motors “as quickly as possible”.
The Windsor Star is reporting that the CAW “has all but given up” on trying to re-open the Oshawa Consolidated line that was closed earlier this year. The Star quotes CAW President Ken Lewenza as saying
“We’re going to keep raising it until the deal is done…But the reality is vehicle production is based on market and market is based on capacity and GM told us they don’t need the capacity.”
The CAW is still in talks with Chrysler and General Motors to continue hammering out the details of their labor agreements, but the discussions have reportedly slowed as the two companies comb through the “pattern agreement” reached with Ford.
GM wants the Treasury to sell its GM shares at a huge loss, says the Wall Street Journal. Nothing doing, says the Department of the Treasury. It does not appear to need the cash (it can have it printed if needed) and is holding out for a slightly smaller loss. (Read More…)
With the CAW’s strike deadline just four days away, the union has apparently tabled a proposal to reduce wages for new hires, a move that would stop short of a true two-tier wage system, but meet a major demand of the Big Three auto makers.
With their Washington overlords breathing down their necks, GM executives are pushing Opel for a definitive agreement to close Opel’s Bochum plant. According to the Wall Street Journal, GM “would like to be able to announce the plan before or along with its third-quarter earnings, which are expected to be disclosed Oct. 31.”
Keep smoking. (Read More…)
GM’s China boss Kevin Wale will retire his job on October 31, GM says. His will be replaced by Bob Socia, GM’s VP of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. (Read More…)
“The estimate of the current loss per unit for each Volt sold is grossly wrong,” GM says as a retort to the Reuters story that GM loses around $49,000 on every Volt. GM says that “it allocates Volt development costs across lifetime volume, not across the current number of Volts sold.” TTAC commenters that rushed to the aid of the beleaguered company suggested the same. Oddly enough, GM passed on a much stronger argument that would have turned the Volt into a money machine. If not immediately, then much earlier than suggested by Reuters. (Read More…)
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