General Motors Co. plans to remove its GM "Mark of Excellence" from all models launched by the company in the future.
Undeterred by global credit freeze, India maintains a bullish outlook on attracting foreign direct investment which may be governed by easier rules, a top government official said.
Attributing to a person familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal said, GM plans to begin paying back a $6.7 billion loan it owes to the US government starting late this year, which would put it on track to potentially repay the entire loan by the middle of 2011.
About 1,800 workers at Rico Auto Industries, in Gurgaon near Delhi, ended their almost 50-day strike following an agreement with the management on reinstatement of some employees.
Automobile component manufacturers are rejoicing over a sudden 30-40 per cent spurt in demand in February. Analysts are, however, not entirely sure of the reason for this high growth; many are doubtful if it can be sustained, given the other gloomy signals. An analyst says, "Almost all car makers have either completely withdrawn or drastically reduced their promotional offers." Also, payment issues as far as vendors are concerned remains a problem.
Excise duty cut of Rs 6,000 on big cars to be passed to customers; LCDs cheaper by Rs 3,500.
Manchester United received some welcome relief from the English soccer champions' on-pitch woes with the announcement on Friday of a sponsorship deal with Italian spirits brand Aperol.
"Just media hype," said a relieved Sachin Kumar, executive of the Auto Vikas showroom of General Motors India in West Delhi's Moti Nagar. "There were some showroom queries on the first two days, but it died down."
There are 50-odd auto component manufacturers from India who supply to Detroit's Big-3 (including Ford).
Indian IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services -- which have running multi-million dollar deals with General Motors that has filed for bankruptcy -- are likely to face a short-term impact since any loss of business in these slowing economic conditions is a setback.
The United States government may own 70 per cent stake in the restructured General Motors, the ailing auto maker which is battling to avert a possible bankruptcy.
In its first major marketing campaign since emerging from bankruptcy, GM is putting its new chairman Edward E Whitacre Jr in the spotlight as the spokesman for the offer to give customers a full refund within 60 days on any GM car or truck, The New York Times said.
Chrysler and General Motors each annually outsource $200-300 million (around Rs 10-15 billion) worth of projects to different vendors, which may be hit by 20-25 per cent, says Avinash Vashistha, chairman and CEO, Tholons, a research and advisory firm. While Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy, there is talk that GM may follow suit.
Company officials have maintained that the closure is a routine exercise and is not a fallout of the ongoing global meltdown. "There will be no production at the company's Halol unit for about two weeks," said P Balendran, vice-president, GM India. The company has shut production from December 13 to December 30.
The money will be drawn from the Troubled Asset Relief Programmeme set up to bail out financial institutions.
While Detroit's Big Three wrangle with the US Congress for a bailout, we could be witnessing another extinction story.
GM India has last week announced plans for launching four new models in the Indian markets in 2010. "The new mini-car will be in the market by January next year and we will produce more than 40,000 units in the first year. Of this, we will export 20 per cent overseas, including to the European and the Asia-Pacific markets," GM India president and managing director Karl Slym told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAM annual convention in New Delhi.
Millions of vehicles have been recalled across the globe due to defective safety airbag manufactured by Japan's Takata Corp.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said he would not rule out the option of forcing out chief executives of banks which have received taxpayers' money but are not performing well.
Some cars that are emblematic of India's automobile industry will no longer come off the assembly lines after this year.
The Cruze is built on a new platform and includes a next-generation power train.
The components would cater to GM facilities worldwide, said Karl Slym, president and managing director, GM India.
General Motors sees a profitable, if risky, path in gaining Chrysler's revenues and slashing costs.
"We have so far invested $1 billion in India and there is no question of puting a cap on it", Karl Slym, president and managing director of India operations, told reporters in Bangalore after unveiling the SUV Chevrolet Captiva Automatic, a premium Sports Utility Vehicle and small car Spark Muzic Special Edition.
The contractual workers at Halol were severed by 2016 as the contracts were not renewed, while the permanent workers were offered a separation package in the form of a voluntary retirement scheme
Three of this year's bankrupt companies -- GM, Chrysler and Thornburg Mortgage -- have found place among the 10 biggest ever bankruptcies in the American history.
The car maker, which filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 on Monday, owes $172.81 billion in total debts to its 50 largest creditors, including ArcelorMittal. In its filing with the bankruptcy court in the southern district of New York, GM said it has a 'trade debt' of $9.55 million to be paid to NRI-billionaire Lakshmi Mittal-led ArcelorMittal. According to the filing, the auto maker has assets worth $82.29 billion.
Bankruptcies of automakers General Motors and Chrysler could cost as many as quarter million people their jobs over the next year and a half, a media report says.
GM shares, which were listed at the New York Stock Exchange on December 20, 1916, were worth close to about $100 a piece in 2000. The going-under of this iconic carmaker has been billed as a 'surgical bankruptcy' by the government for its revival into a new GM in the next two-three months, but the long-running restructuring exercise could not help avoid a loss of over $10 billion in the past one year for investors.
The company, which is also looking to strengthen its position in the sports utility segment, today launched the automatic transmission four-wheel drive version of its popular sports utility vehicle Captiva, priced at Rs 20.3 lakhs (Rs 2.03 million). He said the company will be launching an LPG-driven car in the first half of this year, without specifying details, adding it would be followed by other LPG vehicles.
Dr Devdas Shetty is the new dean of the College of Engineering at Lawrence Technological University, Michigan. He said his goal is to see the College of Engineering become a leader in engineering education. "I want to work on providing real-life challenges for students by forming industry partnerships and applied research at the undergraduate level," he said.
US auto major Chrysler on Friday said it has received four billion dollars as emergency loan from the government, a move to avert a collapse of the ailing automaker.
Nearly $1 trillion in risky debt comes due from 2011 to 2015, and even if the credit crunch is long past, companies will likely struggle to refinance it says CreditSights.
Asked if it is looking at the Maruti 800 and the Chevrolet Spark segment, Nigel E Wark, executive director, marketing, sales and service, Ford India, said: "Yes, we will be launching the small car in this segment broadly, but there are sub-segments and this is where we will differentiate ourselves. We will be competing in the largest volume segment. India and China are the two markets where small cars are in huge demand and we will be focusing on these countries."
The next three months will be a wrenching time for every player in the North American motor industry as the Detroit carmakers seek to prove their long-term viability.
The New York Post has reported that the US, which is wrapping up stress tests on banks, may oust Vikram Pandit as Citi's CEO. Pandit's future at Citi has been hanging in the balance as the financial services major has already received three lifelines from the Federal government to stay afloat.
Auto component sourcing has touched $3 billion in India and is expected to double by next financial year-end. Such sourcing has provided Indian players with the opportunity to charge a premium that varies between 5 and 10 per cent.
General Motors will move ahead with bankruptcy process at a faster pace if it becomes necessary to restructure the auto maker, its new chief executive Fritz Henderson has said.
General Motors' Rick Wagoner on Monday said he has stepped aside as the chief executive officer of the company after US White House officials asked him to leave the ailing auto maker.
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