Welcome to Bizarro Amerika!

Chevrolet is off to its hottest start in the company’s 100 year history. Thanks to a 15 percent jump in global demand, Chevrolet has set a new mark for first quarter sales.

Chevrolet saw strong growth in several key markets during the first quarter, resulting in a worldwide sales total of 1.1 million vehicles.

“This is a great way to kick off Chevrolet’s Centennial year,” said Joel Ewanick, GM global chief marketing officer. “Our first-quarter results are a clear indication that consumers are responding to our new product line, which only happens when you truly listen to the customer.”

The United States led Chevrolet’s sales push with a 23 percent increase to 416,505 units. China was next in line in terms of growth, expanding 17 percent to 159,303 vehicles. Chevrolet also posted strong growth in Brazil, Mexico and Europe.

The Chevrolet Cruze was the brand’s global leader during the period, with its sales increasing 117 percent to 150,652 units. Since launching in 2009, Chevrolet has sold 600,000 Cruze models worldwide.

GM is certianly meeting my expectations of a nationalized company.

The stock is below the IPO price and well below the break even price for the taxpayers to get their money back.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/charts/chartdl.aspx?Symbol=GM&&ShowChtBt=Refresh+Chart&DateRangeForm=1&CP=0&PT=4&C9=0&ComparisonsForm=1&CE=0&DisplayForm=1&D4=1&D5=0&D3=0&ViewType=0&PeriodType=3 (http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/charts/chartdl.aspx?Symbol=GM&&ShowChtBt=Refresh+Chart&DateRangeForm=1&CP=0&PT=4&C9=0&ComparisonsForm=1&CE=0&DisplayForm=1&D4=1&D5=0&D3=0&ViewType=0&PeriodType=3)

Their market share, continuing to fall...

(http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/04/Picture-42.png)

(http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/04/Picture-43-550x325.png)

Both the cars and managment are meeting government expectations!

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/government_motors_is_still_lemon_BdOQV86lpsfZx5LkTZd7aK (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/government_motors_is_still_lemon_BdOQV86lpsfZx5LkTZd7aK)


Taxpayers still own about 26 percent of GM, and it looks increasingly unlikely that they'll ever get their money back: The share price would have to rise to more than $54, and it's stuck in the low thirties. Here's why:

GM's management team lacks stability, with Dan Akerson being the fourth chief executive in less than two years (oh, and CFO Chris Liddell recently resigned).

One of Akerson's main focuses has been to ballyhoo the Chevy Volt, but Consumer Reports says GM's hybrid "just doesn't make a lot of sense." More important, it isn't selling -- only 1,210 Volts have sold this year through the end of March.



Yep.  Celebrate good times, come on.

Take, for instance, General Motors. After a seemingly successful IPO last fall, things have tanked. In recent weeks, GM’s stock price has been–in the words of CBS MoneyWatch columnist Conrad de Aenlle “in a tailspin.” As de Aenlle pointed out on March 7:
 

After being offered for sale at $33 a share last November after GM emerged from bankruptcy reorganization, the stock climbed as high as $39.48 in January and has headed downhill ever since. It reached a new low of $32.01 on Friday, below the issue price.
 
And since then, the stock’s dropped even further, hitting $30.65 before the market’s close Thursday.
 
The execs at GM have a lot to think about, but they might want to cross their fingers, light a candle and hope Matt Drudge forgets their company exists. Why? GM’s ended up on the Drudge Report at least seven times since the IPO. And no, they weren’t good news. Take this Drudge headline from March 4: SHOCK REPORT: GM sells just 281 Chevy Volts in February, or this one on April 1: Government losses in GM far higher than claimed.

Mark Modica was a business manager at a now-closed Saturn dealership in Chalfont, Pa

Their market share, continuing to fall...

Ford hasn’t met its retail market-share target in any month since October, when it sold 14.5 percent of the cars and trucks purchased by individual consumers, according to automotive researcher R.L. Polk & Co. of Southfield, Michigan. Ford’s retail share fell to 13.2 percent in February, the most recent month Polk has analyzed.

In March, Ford raised incentives and surpassed GM in monthly U.S. sales for the second time in the last 13 years, said Michelle Krebs, a West Bloomfield, Michigan-based analyst for Edmunds.

“GM’s retail share was higher than Ford’s in March, despite Ford beating GM in total,” Krebs said. “Not good if Ford resorts to incentives as well as high fleet percentages again -- old habits.”

Ford shares, which climbed 68 percent in 2010, fell 10 cents to $14.71 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 12 percent this year.

So what we've learned is that GM and Ford have lost market share and stock value. Pretty much equally. GM is booming in China, Ford is doing good in Europe, both are selling cars, have new products, and customer interest. Think that's due to the situation in Japan, gas prices, and other factors and not your hatred of the president?

Yet you hate GM and not Ford.

I don't hate either, but I didn't have to shell out anything to Ford.  I did for GM.  I'm kind of an involuntary part owner of GM.

I think shelling out a few cents of our tax dollars for GM would have been a hell of a lot better than the catastrophe that would have occurred if they had failed.

They are failing, just very expensively and in a bit slower motion.

Didn't GM already pay back all or the majority of the bailout money? Not that the tax payers will benefit either way. I can't help but to think that the deluge of problems with Toyota helped GM. Part of me felt like it was wrong and that the free market should dictate who does and doesn't stay in business. However what is called a free market is anything but and therefor, considering the ripple effect that any of those car companies going belly up would have had on the economy and the devastation to people's lives, I guess I'm ok with that aspect of the bail out.

Didn't GM already pay back all or the majority of the bailout money? Not that the tax payers will benefit either way. I can't help but to think that the deluge of problems with Toyota helped GM. Part of me felt like it was wrong and that the free market should dictate who does and doesn't stay in business. However what is called a free market is anything but and therefor, considering the ripple effect that any of those car companies going belly up would have had on the economy and the devastation to people's lives, I guess I'm ok with that aspect of the bail out.

It's true that GM has squared up on its government loans, but Whitacre isn't telling the full story.

With GM in deep trouble and hundreds of thousands of jobs in the balance, the Obama administration -- through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) -- stepped forward with tens of billions of dollars worth of assistance. As of March 31, 2010, the U.S. Treasury had committed approximately $52.4 billion to GM.

Only a fraction of that, $6.7 billion, was in the form of loans. Most of the government's GM investment was converted to an ownership stake in the New GM, the company that emerged from bankruptcy: $2.1 billion in preferred stock; and 60.8 percent of the company's common equity.

GM had already made several installments in paying back the $6.7 billion loan. But on April 21, 2010, GM announced that it had paid back the entirety of the remaining $4.7 billion in loans from the U.S. government (and another $1.1 million to the Canadian government). GM had until 2015 to pay back those loans.

So the loan portion of the GM bailout was, in fact, settled, with interest, five years ahead of schedule.

We think the TV ad would leave most reasonable viewers with the impression that GM has fully settled up with the government. Whitacre can accurately claim that GM has retired its $6.7 billion in loans from the U.S. government. But with the government still owning 60 percent of the company and the prospects slim for getting all its money back, we think that's highly misleading. And so we rate Whitacre's statement Half True.

Didn't GM already pay back all or the majority of the bailout money? Not that the tax payers will benefit either way. I can't help but to think that the deluge of problems with Toyota helped GM. Part of me felt like it was wrong and that the free market should dictate who does and doesn't stay in business. However what is called a free market is anything but and therefor, considering the ripple effect that any of those car companies going belly up would have had on the economy and the devastation to people's lives, I guess I'm ok with that aspect of the bail out.

There's something new. I ate up the mainstream's reassurance that GM was all good now, having not dug deeper. Mr Righty and Ms Lefty knew the truth of the matter.

4 in the kumbayafuukin

Yes and no..


politfact.com (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/apr/27/ed-whitacre/ceo-says-gm-has-repaid-government-loans-full/)

I ate up the mainstream's reassurance that GM was all good now

it was true, they paid back the 'loan' portion.. the misconception is that they got more than just a 'loan'.. and that other part is still owed..

GM paid back the loans with TARP money left in escrow that it didn't need to use. Money that wasn't use as GM ownership stock. Whether it's a "baloney story GM floated before their IPO after the reorganization" is, according to FactCheck, untrue in that the President was correct although the TARP funds were, as I said, repaid with existing TARP funds.

http://factcheck.org/2010/04/sunday-replay-2/

As far as the remaining stock in the government's hands expect a sell later this year since the president doesn't want folks like lilMike to use it as an election issue next year.

Yes the Prez is scared of me!  Yippee!

The Chevrolet Volt won the World Green Car of the Year award at the 2011 New York Auto Show, beating out the Nissan Leaf and BMW 320d for the title.
 
The World Car of the Year award is made up of 66 jurors from 25 countries, who are responsible for selecting the vehicles. This year, the Nissan Leaf ended up taking the honors for World Car of the Year, despite losing the “Green Car” title to the Chevrolet Volt. Other winners included the Ferrari 458 Italia for Performance Car and the Aston Martin Rapide took home top honors for Design. Check out AutoGuide‘s coverage of the New York Auto Show for more.

I ate up the mainstream's reassurance that GM was all good now

Who says it isn't. politfact.com

Are you saying that this part isn't true? If it is true then I don't consider that good or representative of the idea that GM is taken flight from the forced  socialism. That term sums up my opinion on Obama. He's worse than W.

General Motors is almost certain to claim the title of world's biggest automaker this year, retaking the top spot from Toyota, which has been hurt by production problems since the Japanese earthquake and still can't escape the shadow of major safety recalls.
 
The No. 1 title, a morale booster for the winner's employees and managers, would cap GM's remarkable comeback from bankruptcy.
 
GM's sales are up, mainly in China and the U.S, the world's top two markets. Cars are better than in the past, especially small ones.

Yes. It's not true. The government does not own 60% of GM.

Just because the government steps in to help a storied American company survive in order to prevent the mass collapse of our economy does not make it socialist.

Oh. And welcome to the Dark Side of ObamaHate. I'm sure lilMike appreciates having you as his Wing Man. Now, if only we could get Gryff and Iceman over here, his life would be complete.

Will the voters will ever give President Obama credit for rescuing the American auto industry? I have no idea. But it looks more and more like they should.
 
On Thursday General Motors announced that, for the fifth consecutive quarter, it had made a profit. And not just a measly one, either. The $3.2 billion was higher than experts had predicted and more than three times the profit of the same quarter in 2010, when the company was still struggling to emerge from its bankruptcy.
 
GM sales in North America were up 25 percent over that period. That reflects the recovery, obviously, but the increase in GM sales was still larger than the industry average. Even if GM can't keep up that pace, it's an sign of increasing health.
 
Still, the most interesting part of the news is not the profit itself. It's how GM made it. From the New York Times:
 
The company has benefited from a better lineup of fuel-efficient cars and crossover vehicles in an environment where the national average for gasoline is almost $4 a gallon.
 
The new Chevrolet Cruze, for example, has been G.M.’s most successful entry in the compact car segment in years. G.M. has also transitioned away from large, seven-passenger S.U.V.’s to smaller crossovers like the Chevrolet Equinox. ...
 
The automaker has also reduced excess capacity in its assembly plants, and cut tens of thousands of jobs through buyouts and early retirements. Its break-even point in the United States has been lowered to about two million vehicles, a sales goal that it should achieve easily this year...

Still, if not for the Obama Administration's intervention, the entire American auto industry might very well have collapsed and taken the Midwest with it. Instead, the industry is on the rebound, at least for now.
 
That's not bad for government work. Not bad at all.

Now why do you say I hate Obama?

But first the good news...

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/05/gm-q1-profits-triple/ (http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/05/gm-q1-profits-triple/)

GM Q1 Profits Triple !


But now the downside...

“Net income attributable to common stockholders includes gains of $1.6 billion and $0.3 billion respectively related to the sales of the company’s ownership interest in Delphi Automotive LLP and Ally Financial Inc. preferred stock.  It also includes a $0.4 billion goodwill impairment charge at GM Europe (GME) resulting from a change in accounting standards and charges totaling $0.1 billion at GM International Operations (GMIO) related to revised tax regulations affecting the company’s India joint venture.  Combined, these special items increased net income attributable to common stockholders by $1.5 billion or $0.82 per fully-diluted share.”



So selling assets and accounting changes accounted for these profits.  Of course 4 additional cents a share is better than no cents.

Stock is still below the IPO price and way below the break even price...

And of course sales are down from this time last year in China...

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/05/investigative-reporting-reveals-that-gm-china-lost-4-57-percent-in-china/

Wow. Life must be depressing in your dark world of negativity.

quote]

Now that is some irony!

Now, why do you think I hate Obama?

This is one of those days the US auto industry should savor.

Just two years after being bailed out by the US government, General Motors is announcing today that it will spend $2 billion to add approximately 4,200 jobs at 18 plants in eight states.

This follows a horrific decade of closing dozens of plants and slashing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The investment is a welcome shot in the arm for US manufacturing. But this is about more than just adding jobs. It's about re-tooling to make GM more competitive.

Some of the money will go into next generation power trains built in plants like the GM facility in Toledo, Ohio. Some of it will go into GM final assembly plants in Arlington, Texas, Kansas City, Kansas and elsewhere. You get the point, GM is gearing up for the next generation of cars and trucks.

This will inevitably lead to questions about whether GM is leading a renaissance in the US auto industry. After all, Ford and Chrysler have also announced they are adding thousands jobs and sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into their plants. Renaissance might be a bit strong.

But make no mistake: the Big Three are taking the next step in a revival for Detroit that should continue for the foreseeable future.

GM, Ford and Chrysler are all profitable and expect to stay profitable. And they are putting out perhaps the best cars and trucks they've ever built. Their quality, styling and fuel economy are all improving. That will keep buyers coming back to the showroom and give Detroit's automakers the momentum to grow their business.

Will GM, Ford, and Chrysler ever get back to the point where they were in the late '90's where they employed more than 400,000 workers in the US?

No. Back then there were too many plants building too many cars and trucks for too few buyers. Today, the industry has right sized itself at approximately 170,000 workers and even as it grows in the next 3-4 years it's only expected to employ just over 200,000.

But after all that's happened in the last decade, Detroit (and the US) will take it.

RELATED LINKS
Track GM News and Stock Here
GM's Bailout Victory Lap
Slideshow: 15 Companies That are Hiring Now

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42972164

That's pretty great news.. :)

Aside from the number of Chevrolet Cruzes that General Motors Co. sold in April — 25,160 — the most intriguing number may be how many it produced during the same time period — 26,184.

If sales in May continue to accelerate, is the Lordstown complex prepared to meet the demand?

According to statistics from WardsAuto.com, GM had about 39 days’ worth of Cruze inventory as of April 30, three weeks less than the 60-day average industry standard.

That number has decreased to 31 days as of Tuesday, said UAW Local 1112 President Jim Graham.

Cruze inventory shrank by two weeks from March to April, most notably because of a 7,142-unit, one-month boost in sales. Overall, GM sold 265 more Cruzes per day in April than in March.

“I don’t think a lot of people anticipated this number of sales this quickly,” Graham said.

The Lordstown GM complex has produced 163,772 vehicles through the end of April, according to GM. Lordstown has produced between 22,000 and 26,000 Cruzes per month in 2011. Cruze sales will surpass 100,000 in the U.S. this month.

There’s not much more GM can do to speed up production. The plant already is running 24 hours a day, five days a week, plus most Saturdays. The company doesn’t discuss projections, but previously stated April’s sales exceeded expectations.

doom and gloom

It also leaves out a very important extra:  the $14 billion gift that the government seems to have handed the company, in the form of a special tax break:

How does that compare to the $8 billion yearly in subsidies given to the oil companies or the additional tax breaks yearly given to the oil companies over and above subsidies?

Even so, how would the government possibly taking a loss on the sale compare to the massive effects of destruction of our economy if GM and Chrysler had been allowed to die?

The subsidies/tax deductions/tax credits  (I've had a hard time figuring out what exactly they are talking about) are according to US tax law. 

Really? You don't know what they are?

No.  Are you talking about something in the tax code that is open to most companies that size, or something specific to the oil industry, like the oil depletion allowance?

And if you are in favor of a 14 billion give away to GM, why would you object an oil company give away?

Huh? The subsidies given to the oil companies were, inexplicably, given to the oil companies. Why do they even need them now with oil at over $100 a barrell? Even they said a couple of years ago they weren't necessary.

Oh. There you go again! Don't you read anything? But I am glad you admit the oil company subsidies are a "give away". Certainly, now in this time of crisis, we definitely don't need that!

So... what subsidies are you talking about? 

As to if the oil company subsidies/tax deductions/credits or whatever they are are a "give away" that depends on what they are, and I have not gotten an answer to that.

However the 14 billion look-the-other-way that GM got, that was clearly a give away.

Keep defending corporate welfare.  It amuses me.

One more time. Reeeeaaaalllll slow.

GM is repaying the government back. That's a loan and an investment, not a giveaway.

The oil company's 14b? That's a yearly giveaway, not an investment. All the government, and we tqxpayers, get out of that is a sore ass, some messy sheets, and a post-coital cigarette.

However the 14 billion look-the-other-way that GM got, that was clearly a give away.

The 14 billion?  That's GM, not the oil companies.  It seems like the very article that I posted that I thought we were discussing you didn't even read.

Trust me. I understand everything you're trying to say. Even what you're not saying. Like the fact that losses racked up by GM before its government-funded bankruptcy can be used to offset its future tax liabilities as dictated by the Troubled Asset Relief Program, thanks to George W. Bush.

So why you blamin' Obama?

No, you clearly were not understanding it.  You mentioned the 14 billion of the oil companies.  So nope...

However it did push you to go back and and reread the thread.  Glad you caught up.

How veri lil of you, Mike! Dwelling over a simple typo instead of addressing the topic.

tsk

If it's a typo fine.  Hell, I do that all the tyme.

But if it confuses your meaning and makes you look like you don't even know what you're talking about, as in this case, just admit it and move on.  Don't try to cover for it.  That just stretches out the confusion.

is it that you can't or won't stop?

Is it that you can't, or won't speak clearly?

It was pretty clear.. you either can't or won't stop insulting people.. this time, you implied Howie made up his explanation(huh, a running theme with you) and said he just didn't know what he was talking about... You spend your time whining for proof of when you've insulted or demeaned people but ignore it when it's highlighted to you (twice) ..

so it must be a 'won't'...

Trust me. I understand everything you're trying to say. Even what you're not saying. Like the fact that losses racked up by GM before its government-funded bankruptcy can be used to offset its future tax liabilities as dictated by the Troubled Asset Relief Program, thanks to George W. Bush.

So why you blamin' Obama?

It sounds like someone is trying to double down on their error by ducking and dodging.

Paying off debt is a dream shared by most Americans, however, most of them aren't staring down $7.5 billion that's owed to the United States and Canadian governments. Chrysler accountants currently see that on the balance sheet, and we imagine that figure looks rather daunting. Lucky for them, Chrysler is set to pay it back. All of it.
 
Chrysler is preparing to announce details of a $3.5 billion bond offering. Those funds, along with $1.3 billion in cash from Fiat and a $2.5 billion term loan, will be used to pay back the two government loans.
 

I will gladly explain why you are incorrect.  When I pointed out that Howey had confused the 14 billion tax break for GM with the oil companies, this was his response.

Now, does this sound like an explanation of a typo to you?  It doesn't to me.  It sounds like someone is trying to double down on their error by ducking and dodging.

Of course, I would like to get back to the issues, instead of this side street you wanted to go down, so let me reset this:

stop right here, because everything after this point is you explaining why you insulted him.... there is no 'why'.. do not insult people, do not demean people, do not condescend towards people.

is it really that hard for you to follow?

what you said..

But if it confuses your meaning and makes you look like you don't even know what you're talking about, as in this case, just admit it and move on.  Don't try to cover for it.  That just stretches out the confusion.

insulting,cynical and dickish.. and could be said another, less snobbish way as in..

Ok it was a typo.. Fine, it had just confused me because I wasn't sure what your meaning was. I'm still not clear, can you restate your position again?

instead, you double-down on with your insults, by throwing more of them.. and then getting all patronizing with me about how you'd really like to return to issue, after you're the one who got everyone off the issue in the 1st place by being insulting.


so I ask again, is it that you can't stop this or you won't even try to stop?

seriously,  if you want to be jaded, by all means.. be  jaded just stop being cynical..  you want to say someone is too grounded in their own ideology to see the other side of the coin, fine.. have at it. Just stop backhandedly calling people's intelligence and honesty into question.

you have turned decisively antisocial and I'm not the only one telling you this.. even your 'followers' on muche have mentioned it to you.. you, yourself have noticed this about you.. remember, you  when said that you were becoming much more of an ass every time you posted on muche, and if it was enough that even you'd noticed, you must be approaching 'wrongo-like' rudeness to everyone else?

try something different for a change..

you have turned decisively antisocial and I'm not the only one telling you this.. even your 'followers' on muche have mentioned it to you.. you, yourself have noticed this about you.. remember, you  when said that you were becoming much more of an ass every time you posted on muche, and if it was enough that even you'd noticed, you must be approaching 'wrongo-like' rudeness to everyone else?

try something different for a change..