2009 Detroit Auto Show: Spark and Orlando from GM
       General Motors brought to the 2009 Detroit Auto Show two different vehicles: a tiny fuel-efficient car and an extra large sedan. The minicar Spark is based on the Beat concept which was introduced by GM at the 2007 New York Auto Show. It was designed for the all-world market and the final production model will be presented in March at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show. This four-door minicar is going to be a strong competitor to the other gas-sippers after it goes to...

GM gets closer on deal for investors | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Negotiations between General Motors Corp. and its bondholders are progressing, with major investors signaling that they are now willing to accept less money than originally sought in exchange for forgiving billions in unsecured notes -- but only if the federal government guarantees the new debt. Bondholders had pushed for about 50 cents on the dollar. Now, sources familiar with the situation say they are prepared to accept 40 cents on the dollar, or even 30 cents. But government backing would have to be...

Reaction mixed to GM's financial plan | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Analyst reactions were mixed Friday about General Motor Corp.'s ability to execute a broad restructuring plan and said the company might need more money from the federal government after the automaker cut its estimate of 2009 U.S. industry sales. GM's gloomy estimate could signal a need to ask for almost $3 billion more than the $13.4 billion in loans it is scheduled to receive because the automaker said Thursday it expects a worst-case sales scenario to materialize this year, analyst Himanshu Patel of...

GM bleeds; aid talks heat up | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Pressure is mounting on General Motors Corp. to secure additional federal aid and money-saving concessions from the United Auto Workers and bondholders in light of the automaker's $30.9 billion loss last year. GM revealed its fourth straight annual loss -- the second-worst in the company's 100-year history -- on Thursday, hours before Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner met with President Barack Obama's auto team, which is overseeing the automaker's restructuring and repayment of $13.4 billion in federal...

GM's Opel directors debate future | detnews.com | The Detroit News
BERLIN -- The supervisory board of General Motors Corp.'s Opel unit was meeting Friday to hear suggestions from management on how the auto maker can weather the economic crisis and its parent's troubles. The supervisory board -- the equivalent of a U.S. board of directors -- met in Ruesselsheim, Germany, where Adam Opel GmbH has its headquarters and biggest plant. Opel chief executive Hans Demant said before the meeting that he could guarantee managers would present "intelligent suggestions" to the...

U.S.-German working group to seek help for GM's Opel | detnews.com | The Detroit News
BERLIN -- Germany's new economic minister says he has arranged an informal working group with the U.S. treasury secretary aimed at finding a way to save General Motors Corp.'s German-based Opel unit. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said in comments published in the Bild am Sonntag weekly Sunday that he had contacted Timothy Geithner in Washington about setting up a working group in hopes of finding a way to secure the future of Adam Opel GmbH. "I will use my first visit to the U.S.A. in March to hold further...

GM Asks FAA To Keep Jet Movements Confidential
General Motors Corp whose chief executive was blasted last week by US lawmakers for flying on a private jet to ask for public funds, has asked the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to prevent public tracking of a jet it leases."We availed ourselves of the same option as others have," to have the plane removed from the FAA's tracking service, a GM spokesman, Greg Martin, said Thursday.He declined to comment on why GM made the request or when the company expects the FAA to decide whether to...

Commentary: 'B' word is GM's leverage | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Score another one for the pessimists. In the space of little more than a month, General Motors Corp.'s "base case" for the weakening U.S. car market officially has morphed into its worst-case scenario -- and the first-of-the-year Detroit auto show hasn't even opened to the public yet. The automaker predicts American consumers will buy 10.5 million cars and trucks this year, down from the 12 million it told Congress during last month's hearings. Worse, GM says global demand for new vehicles will be 15...

GM to seek more federal aid | detnews.com | The Detroit News
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. will ask for billions more in federal aid today when it submits a restructuring plan to the U.S. Treasury Department outlining cuts that will dramatically shrink the iconic but troubled American automaker. But GM's recovery plan and one from Chrysler LLC, due today as a condition of a $17.4 billion federal loan package, are not expected to include key money-saving concessions from the United Auto Workers and bondholders. Despite long negotiations over the weekend and...

GM Ceases All Corporate Jet Flights: To Sell Remaining Jets
GM today announced that it is ceasing operations at General Motors Air Transportation Services at Detroit Metro Airport. Due to significant cutbacks over the past months, GM travel volume no longer justifies a dedicated corporate aircraft operation. GM is currently exploring options for transferring its aircraft to another operator. The company is pursuing sale of four of the aircraft so it can terminate the leases. GM will shutter the facility at Metro Airport effective January 1, 2009. GM will work...