General Motors drove out of bankruptcy protection on Friday, with its top executive saying it must pay more attention to responding to customers.

The automaker's rapid relaunch came just 40 days after going into creditor protection. One bankruptcy expert called GM's 40-day case the fastest ever for a company of its size.

GM is now a smaller company that is majority-owned by the U.S. government. With a drastically reduced debt load and new ownership, the company also has fewer brands. The Pontiac brand is disappearing, while the company plans to sell off Saab, Saturn, Hummer and its European-based Opel operations.

More in the jump!

At a news conference in Detroit, GM CEO Fritz Henderson spoke about the relaunch of the company. He said the company's new focus on four core brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC — will allow GM to focus its resources in fewer places.

Henderson told reporters that the company plans to introduce 10 new models in the United States and 17 new models outside the U.S. over the next 18 months.

The GM chief also said the company is eyeing new ways of selling its products, including possible online auctions in partnership with eBay.

Source: [http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/10/gm-emerge-bankruptcy.html]CBCnews[/url]

General Motors Corp. plans to exit bankruptcy later this week through the sale of most of its assets to a new entity backed by the Treasury Department.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said on a company blog posting that the automaker planned to close on the sale after the appeal process is exhausted. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in clearing the way for the sale of GM's good assets gave opponents until Thursday at noon to appeal and win an additional delay from a higher court.

"We expect the sale to close immediately after the appeal process is exhausted later this week, and for the new GM to be operational and fully competitive, with an exciting line of new products, a smaller and more focused brand portfolio, and a clear mission to put the customer first in everything we do," Henderson said in a blog posting this morning.

The new GM will be known as General Motors Co. and is backed with $50 billion in U.S. government loans.

The Treasury Department will hold 60.8 percent stake in GM, which will be privately held until at least next year, while the Canadian government will hold 11.7 percent, and a UAW health care trust fund will hold 17.5 percent. Unsecured creditors will hold 10 percent of GM.

Source: Detroit News

General Motors Corp. expects to return to annual profits in 2011, and estimates stock in the new company it will launch from bankruptcy will be worth $38 billion to $48 billion.

According to financial estimates filed today as part of its bankruptcy case, the new GM will count on a rebound in U.S. vehicle sales to about 16 million a year by 2012 to pull it back into profitability, pumping up its output from 3.8 million vehicles worldwide this year to 6 million by 2014.

The company’s financial adviser, Evercore Partners, offered projections for GM’s finances in its bankruptcy case based on several estimates of sales and revenues. It forecasts that GM will lose $17.5 billion this year before swinging to a profit of $3 billion in 2011 before taxes, rising to $7.8 billion in 2014. More at the source!

Source: Freep

GM took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.

Detroit-based GM said it has reached a memorandum of understanding with a buyer for Hummer, though it did not name the buyer or the price. The automaker said the sale will likely save more than 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at various Hummer dealerships.

"We're not today in a position to be able to identify a buyer. It was part of the agreement," GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson told CBS's "The Early Show." "We believe the buyer is quite capable of closing."

The automaker also said Tuesday that it has 16 buyers interested in purchasing its Saturn brand, while three parties are interested in the Swedish Saab brand.

Source: Yahoo, tip credit: cochran.191

General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday, a move once viewed as unthinkable that became inevitable after years of losses and market share declines which were capped by a dramatic plunge in sales in recent months.

In the end, even $19.4 billion in federal help wasn't enough to keep the nation's largest automaker out of bankruptcy. The government will pour another $30 billion into GM to fund operations during its reorganization.

Taxpayers will end up with a 60% stake in GM, with the union, its creditors and federal and provincial governments in Canada owning the remainder of the company.

Owners of GM cars should see little change as a result of the bankruptcy since warranties will still be honored. But there will be plenty of pain caused by the bankruptcy and the company's efforts to stem losses.

GM will shed its Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands and cut loose more than 2,000 of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships by next year. That could result in more than 100,000 additional job losses if those dealerships are forced to close.

Source: CNN

U.S. officials have told Reuters that General Motors will file for bankruptcy early Monday morning before the markets open. The bankruptcy filing of the 100-year-old automaker will be the third-largest in U.S. history and the largest ever in a U.S. manufacturing market.

Officials said that the U.S. will push GM into a fast-track bankruptcy, which should be completed in 60 to 90 days. The automaker will get $30 billion of additional taxpayer money to restructure a smaller-company that will compete with foreign automakers. The governments of Canada and Ontario have also agreed to provide another $9.4 billion to GM.

“The immediate implication is that the companies are going to get smaller and so market share is up for grabs, which means that rivals like Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai are going to gain share,” said Christopher Richter, an auto analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

If both automakers fail to become competitive against foreign automakers “we’ll be doing this all over again in a few years.”

The Obama administration will be taking the majority stake in the restructured GM with a total of 60 percent. UAW will have 17.5 percent while the Canadian government will have 12 percent. GM bondholders will take a 10 percent stake.

In a brief statement released yesterday, GM said.

“President and CEO, Fritz Henderson, will host a press conference, beginning immediately following President Obama’s media briefing. According to a White House media advisory, President Obama will begin his remarks at approximately 11:55 a.m. EDT. Mr. Henderson will address media separately from New York following the President, beginning at approximately 12:15 p.m. EDT.”

Source: eGMCarTech

Two Obama administration officials say Chrysler will file for bankruptcy protection after talks broke down with a small group of the company's creditors.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the filing plan has not been formally announced. The government had long hoped to stave off bankruptcy for Chrysler, but negotiations with hedge funds that hold its outstanding debt crumbled overnight.

Bankruptcy doesn't mean the nation's third largest automaker will shut down. And Chrysler is expected to sign a partnership with the Italian company Fiat as early as today as part of its restructuring plan. President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the nation's auto sector at noon.

Source: Yahoo

Preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing at General Motors have become "intense and earnest", according to a source familiar with the company's plans.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said GM still hopes to win concessions from its creditors and unions that will allow it to avoid bankruptcy. But the June 1 deadline given to the company by President Obama and the Treasury Department to reach deals or go into bankruptcy has caused a pick-up in preparations, the source said.

"We're talking about what could be the largest industrial company to ever go bankrupt. The preparations better be intense and earnest," the source said. "The preparations are being made because there's a short time frame here."

GM owes about $28 billion to holders of its unsecured debt. It wants those creditors to agree to take an equity stake in the company in return for reducing that debt by at least two thirds.

An ad hoc committee representing GM bondholders have objected to this proposal due to the uncertain value of GM's stock going forward.

A person involved with that committee said Tuesday that the reports about bankruptcy preparations at GM did not change the creditors' views. This source added that there have been no formal talks between the bondholders and the company since Obama's deadline was set last week, but that the committee is eager to hold negotiations.

"We're very concerned about the state of the company and the possibility of bankruptcy," the source involved with the committee said. "We're still trying to work to try to get something done outside of bankruptcy, which is our hope."

Source: CNN

General Motors Corp, nearing a Tuesday deadline to present a viability plan to the U.S. government, is considering as one option a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that would create a new company, the Wall Street Journal said in its Saturday edition.

"One plan includes a Chapter 11 filing that would assemble all of GM's viable assets, including some U.S. brands and international operations, into a new company," the newspaper said. "The undesirable assets would be liquidated or sold under protection of a bankruptcy court. Contracts with bondholders, unions, dealers and suppliers would also be reworked."

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the story said that GM could also ask for additional government funds to stave off a bankruptcy filing.

GM declined to comment, the story said.

Source: Reuters

Japan’s largest credit research company Teikoku Databank announced that automotive parts manufacturer Trust filed for bankruptcy on September 10th, 2008. Trust also known abroad as Greddy is reported to be approx US$60M in debt.

In February 2008, Trust reported declined annual sales of US$53M. Loan payments totallying US$43M became a burden and was forced to file bankruptcy to the Tokyo District Court.

Trust was founded in 1976 and employs 190 workers producing exhausts, springs, turbo chargers and car electronics. A US subsidiary, Greddy Performance Products was founded in 1994 to expand overseas sales. In 1998 Trust reported annual sales of US$80M but since then sales had been declining.

Source: JDM Insider

Texas-based specialty-car maker Unique Performance filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy back on Nov. 12, just 10 days after authorities raided the firm's operations in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, Texas. Their misfortune could be your fortune! Check out the auction site and see if you can snag anything up!

Source: Auction Site