Commentary: General Motors choking as global economy gasps | detnews.com | The Detroit News
The world may not be enough to keep General Motors Corp. afloat. As the ailing automaker gutted through a years-long North American restructuring that morphed last fall into pleas for a $30 billion lifeline from the feds, GM's revenue and, especially, profits from China, Latin America and robust growth in Eastern Europe partially offset massive losses back home. Not anymore. The foreign strands of GM's safety net, according to its year-end financials Thursday, are fraying quickly, too. Fourth-quarter...

General Motors Gives Up Some Brands
General Motors realizes it cannot survive in the current situation if it will not have some changes in the structure, so one of the major decisions was the elimination of the brands that don’t bring much profit. The manufacturer plans to keep Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, but Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer are going to leave the company. General Motors has been talking about Hummer sale since summer when the fuel prices went high and the sales of the gas-guzzlers dropped. At that time...

General Motors Designs a New Car in Australia
General Motors still exists thanks to the help of the governments of different countries where the manufacturer does its work: the American government has just approved the multi-billion bailout, the Chinese officials helped with the financing of the building of a $390 billion assembly plant for Chevrolet Cruze and now the Australian government supports the development and production of an all-new small car. The auto is going to have Delta small-car platform, all-wheel drive and a four-cylinder engine...

General Motors Opens a Plant in China
For several months we’ve heard about poor American automakers who don’t have any money to keep their production and who need government help in multibillion-dollar bailouts. From time to time you can come across the articles about the manufacturers stopping the plants for several days or even weeks, reducing the number of displays at the shows and slowing down the development of the new autos. At the same time, while General Motors waits for government help, it opens a $390 million factory in China...

American Axle strike idles two more General Motors factories
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. says the eight-week strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. has forced it to cut production at two more factories. GM spokesman Dan Flores says the company on Monday cut one of three shifts at an Oshawa, Ontario, factory that makes the Chevrolet Impala and Buick Lacrosse sedans. It also cut production of four-speed transmissions at a factory in Washtenaw County's Ypsilanti Township. The strike at American Axle has affected production at 30 GM factories in...

General Motors drops to No. 4 on Fortune 500 list; Wal-Mart still No. 1
NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shrugged off weak consumer spending to remain atop the 2008 Fortune 500 list, edging Exxon Mobil Corp. for the second straight year in the magazine's annual ranking of the nation's largest publicly traded companies. Declining U.S. auto sales battered General Motors Corp., which fell one position to No. 4 on revenue of $182.3 billion and a loss of $38.7 billion. Ford Motor Co. ranked seventh. Fortune compiled its list based on companies' 2007 revenues. Wal-Mart raked in...

General Motors Corp. to cut shift at Oshawa sedan plant
A second General Motors Corp. plant that builds passenger cars will soon be affected by the strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. GM will idle a third shift starting April 21 at its Oshawa, Ont. car plant, where the automaker builds one of its staple vehicles, the Chevrolet Impala full-size sedan, GM Spokesman Stew Low said. Two Saturday shifts also will be cancelled. The plant also builds the Buick Lacrosse sedan. Most of the two dozen GM factories affected by a parts shortage created by the...