GM Extends Deadline for Saab Bidders, 2010 9-5 Sedan Production to Restart
Posted by admin on Dec 30, 2009
General Motors has dropped a December 31 deadline for Saab bids and will soon restart production of certain models to the pleasure of the Swedish brand’s employees, dealers, interested buyers and of course, the automaker’s fans. However, this doesn’t mean that GM will not be closing down the brand if it doesn’t find a suitable buyer.
“We are preparing the wind-down process. At the same time we are open to options, to bids that come in. Therefore the deadline has also been dropped,” said Saab spokesman Eric Geers.
Reuters reported that Spyker CEO Victor Muller said in a text message that GM had extended the deadline for a final offer from the small Dutch supercar maker until January 7 adding that he believes there are other bidders also interested in Saab.
In addition, Saab announced today that, following a holiday shutdown, it will restart production in January for its all-new 2010 9-5 sedan and 9-3 Convertible models.
“We have the orders and we have to deliver them as usual. We also have the orders for the 9-3 and others. The factory has to continue again,” Geers said.
Tags: 2010 9-5 Sedan Production to Restart, 2010 saab 9-5, 2010 saab95, GM Extends Deadline for Saab Bidders, saab
GM Slashes Prices of Remaining Pontiacs and Saturns by up to 46%
Posted by admin on Dec 29, 2009
If you ever wanted to buy a Pontiac or a Saturn and you don’t mind that both brands will soon pass into the books of history, now’s the time as General Motors is offering dealers huge incentives to move a few thousand leftover vehicles from the two discontinued marques, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
According to the paper, the Detroit automaker sent a letter to dealers on December 23 stating that it would pay them around $7,000 for every new Pontiac or Saturn on their lot that is moved to their rental-vehicle or service-vehicle fleets.
With this move, the leftover vehicles will be classified as used (even though they’re new, the dealers will technically be the vehicles’ first owner) thus allowing dealers to sell them at a huge discount which is said to be as much as 46% off the sticker price.
The daily newspaper said that the offer will expire on January 4 which is the last day of the December car-sales month with GM booking the sales to dealers as fleet deliveries.
Saturn’s leftover portfolio includes the Vue compact crossover, Sky Roadster, Aura Sedan, Astra compact hatch and Outlook crossover, while Pontiac’s range comprises of the Solstice Roadster and Coupe, G6 Sedan, Coupe and Convertible, and the G8 sports sedan.
However, you’ll have to check with your local dealer to see which models are available. And if you do, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment here telling us what kind of an offer they made you.
Tags: GM Slashes Prices of Remaining Pontiacs and Saturns by up to 46%
2011 Ford Mustang GT To Debut at 2010 Detroit Auto Show
Posted by admin on Dec 28, 2009
DEARBORN, Michigan — The 2011 Ford Mustang GT will debut at the upcoming Detroit auto show, powered by an all-new 5.0-liter V8 and enhanced with numerous chassis upgrades.
The 5.0 V8 features 32 valves and twin independent variable camshaft timing. The engine delivers 412 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque, and is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Ford projects EPA fuel economy at 17 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway. A six-speed manual gearbox will also be available.
Under the skin, the 2011 Mustang GT gets electric power steering and an upgraded suspension, as well as such options as oversize Brembo brakes and unique 19-inch wheels and performance tires. Chassis changes include a stiffer rear stabilizer bar, retuned spring and damper rates and an enhanced rear lower control arm.
Among the new tech features are integrated blind-spot mirrors and a programmable key.
The 2011 Mustang GT will be available as a coupe and a convertible.
Tags: 2011 Ford Mustang GT To Debut at 2010 Detroit Auto Show
GM and Chrysler Face Steep Road to Recovery in 2010
Posted by admin on Dec 28, 2009
When history is written, 2009 will go down as an ignominious year for Detroit. Driven to the brink by a potent combination of fleeing customers and a free-falling economy, General Motors and Chrysler were left staggering in the first half of the year, finally capitulating to bankruptcy after Uncle Sam intervened to save the companies. Once icons of American industrial might, the automakers cut jobs, closed plants, eliminated models and shed storied brands.
What will 2010 bring? Both companies have a long way to go to convince U.S. consumers that GM and Chrysler products are worthy of consideration. Further, it doesn’t help that some potential car buyers have sworn off the makes altogether for taking a combined $82 billion in federal bailouts, a sentiment that has helped boost the fortunes of the only other U.S. auto company, Ford Motor (F), simply for staying afloat.
The recent ouster of GM CEO Frederick “Fritz” Henderson has led industry insiders to believe that the Detroit-based company, at least, is finally moving in the right direction — and at a brisker pace. Credit for that goes to interim-CEO Ed Whitacre. In short order, the former AT&T (T) CEO has rebooted GM management, including naming former Microsoft (MSFT) Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell to run GM’s finances, a move some say puts him on the CEO shortlist.
GM Products Are “Worthy”
Whitacre also wants to repay its $6.9 billion in debt sooner than anticipated, a plan one analyst says has the potential to help the Obama administration stave off a public-relations problem should repayment otherwise drag out. “All of us as taxpayers who are exposed in this are paying at least a half a drop of attention to it,” says James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelly Blue Book. “There’s a sense of obligation to pay that money back.” Moreover, Bell says, GM’s descent into bankruptcy has allowed the car maker to substantially reduce costs, making early repayment viable.
In addition to reconfiguring management and straightening out its finances, another upside for GM is its products, which Bell says are worthy of consumer consideration. “There is very little reason to shun GM to go look at another brand,” he says. As long as consumers are willing to give it a fair shake, GM has every opportunity to gain market share.
It’s losing — not gaining — a greater share of the market that concerns George Magliano, director of automotive industry research in North America at IHS Global Insight. Magliano says GM is likely to end 2009 with about 20% of the market, when measured by sales. That compares to 22% last year, and IHS expectations that GM’s market share will shrink below 17% by 2012. GM’s own estimates put its share at about 20% of the market.
At stake is whether GM can covert current Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab owners over to the auto maker’s remaining four “core” brands — Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. “We’re basically saying we don’t think they’re going to do that,” says Magliano, adding that owners of the defunct GM brands will likely defect to Ford, and Japanese and Korean makes.
Chrysler’s Challenged Product Strategy
Magliano agrees that Whitacre is acting out of a sense of urgency that didn’t exist prior to his ascendancy to the top spot. That means under his leadership GM will do things differently, be more aggressive and take more risks. “They’re not going to sit,” he says.
As for Chrysler both men agree little is likely to change during the next year. The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company, now run by Italy’s Fiat, has only one new model planned for near-term introduction, a freshened Jeep Grand Cherokee. While a nice vehicle, Bell says, “the market for heavy, mid-sized SUVs is not hot.”
Chrysler’s lack of a coherent product strategy is no fault of its own, Bell says. Rather, it is the victim of two unsuccessful relationships, first with Germany’s Daimler (DAI), which did little to sustain Chrysler amid a slow and painful divorce, and more recently with private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, whose management led Chrysler into bankruptcy last spring.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is a charismatic leader, Magliano says, but talking about new products and actually getting them to market aren’t the same. The process is difficult to accelerate. Further, it remains uncertain whether Fiat-based products, including the company’s subcompact 500, will appeal to U.S. customers.
Shrinking Market Share
Absent new models, Magliano expects Chrysler’s share of the U.S. auto market to slip from its 11% share last year to 6.9% by 2012. At below 7%, Chrysler would have a smaller share than either Nissan or Hyundai/Kia, and become the tiniest of the top seven largest car companies that supply the domestic market. At that level, he says, “surviving as an entity is a major, major issue.”
Lastly, while GM has pledged to repay its loan faster than anticipated, Chrysler has hedged on repaying its $3.7 billion in debt. Or as Magliano says, “They’re not going to repay anytime soon.”
Tags: GM and Chrysler Face Steep Road to Recovery in 2010
G.M. Plans to Close Saab
Posted by admin on Dec 18, 2009
Unable to find a buyer for Saab after a year-long search, General Motors said Friday that it would begin shutting down operations at the Swedish carmaker.
G.M. had been in final sales negotiations with a Dutch maker of high-end sports cars, Spyker Cars, but issues arose during the due diligence process that made the sale impossible before G.M.’s Jan. 1 deadline, the company said in a statement.
“Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time,” the president of G.M. Europe, Nick Reilly, said.
“We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars,” Mr. Reilly said. “We will work closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner.”
Saab will continue to honor warranties, while providing service and spare parts to current Saab owners around the world, G.M. said. Mr. Reilly said that the move was not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation, so he expected Saab to pay its debts, including those of suppliers.
But with a narrow, though loyal, customer base focused on Sweden, Britain and the American Northeast, Saab has proved too small to lure the world’s big automakers, many of which are seeking tie-ups to increase economies of scale.
Earlier this month, the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, struck a deal for the right to produce versions of the older 9-5 and 9-3 models in China.
In late November, the Swedish sports carmaker, Koenigsegg, backed out of the deal to buy the unit. It was the third time in less than two months that a sale of a G.M. brand has been called off, reflecting the difficulty of selling underperforming divisions in the midst of a global sales slump.
In early November, G.M. also backed out of a deal to sell its European operations, Adam Opel, to a Canadian parts supplier and Russian bank. And in September, G.M. announced that Saturn brand and dealerships would close after Penske Automotive terminated its deal to buy the carmaker.
G.M. still has a tentative deal to sell Hummer to a Chinese industrial machinery manufacturer.
Saab, which filed for bankruptcy protection in Sweden in February, has been a perennial money-loser and is among G.M.’s smallest brands, with sales of 93,000 vehicles worldwide last year.
It is on pace to sell fewer than 10,000 vehicles in the United States this year.
G.M. paid $600 million for half of Saab in 1990 and $125 million for the rest in 2000. Terms of the deal with Koenigsegg have not been revealed, but it was contingent on $600 million of financing from the European Investment Bank and Swedish government guarantees.
Saab, which originally made fighter planes, began to make cars after World War II in an effort to branch out.
Tags: G.M. Plans to Close Saab, saab