Home
Cars Blog
May 24, 2009 - May 30, 2009 Archives
Chrysler appears hours away from Fiat sale ruling
NEW YORK -- Chrysler could be hours away from a ruling on its plan to sell most of the company to a group led by Italy's Fiat Group SpA, a big step toward its goal of a speedy exit from...
May 29, 2009 4:30 pm
Comments
GM to build compact cars in US; UAW OKs contract
DETROIT -- The reformation of General Motors is in high gear, according to The Associated Press. The automaker said Friday that it plans to reopen a shuttered U.S. factory to build subcompact cars that will be the smallest vehicles GM...
May 29, 2009 4:30 pm
Comments
GM shares fall below $1 as deadline approaches
NEW YORK -- Shares of General Motors fell below $1 on Friday for the first time in 76 years as the struggling automaker approached a government-imposed restructuring deadline and a likely filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to The...
May 29, 2009 12:04 pm
Comments
Magna Said to Reach Deal for G.M.'s European Unit
FRANKFURT -- Negotiators from General Motors, Magna International and the German government reached a tentative agreement on Friday that would see Magna take a major stake in G.M.'s European operations, a person briefed on the talks said Friday, according to...
May 29, 2009 11:32 am
Comments
Lee Iacocca losing pension, car in Chrysler bankruptcy
NEW YORK - Lee Iacocca, the car executive credited with saving Chrysler from bankruptcy in the 1980s, is to lose a big chunk of his pension and a guaranteed life-long company car due to the U.S. automaker's bankruptcy filing...
May 29, 2009 9:57 am
Comments
In Opel Talks, a High-Stakes Game of Poker
PARIS -- Upping the rhetorical as well as the financial ante in what has become a high-stakes poker game that will decide the fate of Opel and the rest of General Motor's operations in Europe, Fiat's chief executive, Sergio Marchionne,...
May 29, 2009 9:47 am
Comments
Crash diet: GM getting in shape for Chapter 11
DETROIT -- The speed at which General Motors Corp. exits bankruptcy protection would depend a lot on the shape the company is in when it enters. GM has three more days to tidy up, according to The Associated Press. Bankruptcy...
May 29, 2009 9:47 am
Comments
Backseat Driver: The bankruptcy of General Motors
The bankruptcy of what was once the greatest company in the world will certainly stand as one of the defining aspects of the so-called Great Recession. As surely as it marks the decline and fall of a great company, it...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
New G.M. Plan Gets Support From Key Bondholders
General Motors said Thursday that bondholders could receive up to 25 percent in the carmaker if they do not oppose its bankruptcy reorganization, an even bigger stake than G.M. offered to the United Automobile Workers union, and that a group...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
Backseat Driver: Chrysler and GM dealers badly served by Detroit
As the American auto industry goes through a seismic shift in its fortunes, it is hard not to lay the blame squarely on the corporate shoulders in Detroit. For decades the Detroit Three ignored what was becoming obvious to increasing...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
Dow Jones index would have to drop bankrupt GM
NEW YORK -- A bankruptcy filing by General Motors would not only send one of America's most storied automakers into further upheaval, it would also force a shake-up in the Dow Jones industrial average, according to The Associated Press. Once...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
Backseat Driver: Two years at home for killing someone?
I don't know about you but I was astonished that a young man who killed a mother of two when he crashed his car into hers was recently sentenced to two years' home confinement. The sentence was part of a...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
Oil rises to new six-month high
NEW YORK -- Oil prices jumped to a new six-month high Thursday as government reports showed that consumers are spending money and fewer people are requesting first-time unemployment benefits, according to The Associated Press. Benchmark crude for July delivery added...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
Backseat Driver: Driving a 1910 Oakland Runabout
I had some fun the other day. Keith Bailey invited me down to North Kingstown to report on his recently restored 1910 Oakland Runabout for a future story. The car, one of only two surviving models in the world (the...
May 28, 2009 12:48 pm
Comments
Chrysler Cures a Bankruptcy, but Tests Loom
When President Obama announced the government's reorganization plan for Chrysler in late April, he promised the bankruptcy would be "quick," "efficient," and "controlled." And Chrysler is, in fact, hurtling through the process and appears on track to emerge soon as...
May 28, 2009 9:26 am
Comments
Stocks rise on reports of GM bondholder agreement
Stocks rise on reports of GM bondholder agreement By MADLEN READ AP Business Writer Advertisement Latest Market News Stocks rise on reports of GM bondholder agreement How the major stock indexes fared Wednesday AutoZone, General Motors, SanDisk are big movers...
May 28, 2009 9:26 am
Comments
GM issues paychecks early amid bankruptcy fears
DETROIT - General Motors paid about 90,000 U.S. employees three days early this week in an effort to reassure them that their wage payments would not be affected by any bankruptcy filing, a spokesman said, according to Reuters. GM employees...
May 28, 2009 9:26 am
Comments
Opel race narrows to two but still no funding deal
Fiat has presented an ambitious plan to fold Opel and other GM Europe brands Vauxhall and Saab into a transatlantic car empire that would also include new U.S. partner Chrysler, according to Reuters. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne was flying to...
May 28, 2009 9:26 am
Comments
War of words over Opel as GM bankruptcy looms
BERLIN/DETROIT - A rift between Berlin and Washington threatened to torpedo Germany's goal of shielding Opel from the imminent bankruptcy of its parent General Motors, raising the risk of insolvency for the German carmaker, according to Reuters. German Foreign Minister...
May 28, 2009 9:26 am
Comments
AP Source: GM to announce 14 plant closures Monday
DETROIT -- A person briefed on General Motors' plans says the company on Monday will identify the 14 factories it will close as it heads toward an a likely Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing, according to The Associated Press. The...
May 28, 2009 9:26 am
Comments
R.I. Gas prices up 50 percent from Dec. low
PROVIDENCE - As motorists gear up for road-trip season, the wobbly economy is not the only factor that could put the brakes on vacation plans, according to The Providence Journal. Gasoline prices have gone up for 16 of the past...
May 27, 2009 10:18 am
Comments
Oil hits '09 high above $63 on recovery hopes
Oil hits '09 high above $63 on recovery hopes Wed May 27, 2009 10:00am EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text [+] 1 of 2Full SizeRelated News Oil facts of life catch up with commods rally...
May 27, 2009 10:18 am
Comments
Chrysler heads to court for key bankruptcy hearing
NEW YORK -- The future of Chrysler hangs in the balance as it heads to court Wednesday to ask a bankruptcy judge for permission to sell the bulk of its assets to a group headed by Italy's Fiat in hopes...
May 27, 2009 10:18 am
Comments
GM Europe pools Opel-Vauxhall assets as sale looms
BERLIN -- General Motors moved Wednesday to package together the assets of its European Opel and Vauxhall car brands for possible new ownership ahead of top-level meetings with bidders and government officials in Berlin, according to The Associated Press. Opel's...
May 27, 2009 10:18 am
Comments
GM says bondholder offer fails; bankruptcy likely
DETROIT -- A General Motors bankruptcy filing seemed inevitable after a rebellion by its bondholders forced it to withdraw on Wednesday a plan to swap bond debt for company stock, according to The Associated Press. GM has until Monday to...
May 27, 2009 10:18 am
Comments
Illinois Chrysler dealer vows to fight to the finish
ST CHARLES, Ill. - Rocco Massarelli is down but not out. "I'm too stubborn to quit and I'm too stupid to go away," said the owner of Richard Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge in the western Chicago suburb of St Charles, according to Reuters....
May 26, 2009 1:53 pm
Comments
GM bondholders nix tender offer; bankruptcy nears
DETROIT/NEW YORK - General Motors has failed to persuade enough bondholders to accept a debt-for-equity swap, setting the stage for the largest-ever U.S. industrial bankruptcy by the end of this month, according to Reuters. The largest U.S. automaker had so...
May 26, 2009 1:53 pm
Comments
UAW trust to get 17.5 percent of GM shares
DETROIT -- General Motors will give the United Auto Workers union 17.5 percent of its common stock, $6.5 billion of preferred shares and a $2.5 billion note to fund a trust that will take over retiree health care costs starting...
May 26, 2009 1:30 pm
Comments
Fiat CEO pushes Opel bid with Merkel
BERLIN -- Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne pushed his bid for General Motors Corp.'s Opel unit in talks Tuesday with German leaders, saying he had lowered his request for government financial help, according to The Associated Press. Fiat's rivals in the...
May 26, 2009 1:30 pm
Comments
Make-or-break week for GM as deadline nears
MILWAUKEE -- The clock is ticking on a June 1 deadline for General Motors Corp. to restructure, and this make-or-break week is expected to bring more plant closures, employee concessions and other last-minute efforts, according to The Associated Press. Without...
May 26, 2009 9:30 am
Comments
