USMotor Industry struggling to keep their head above water?

[peter]

Time for a reality check ?

Saab has always had an extraordinarily enthusiastic and devoted worldwide customer base. They, like many others, believe that the production of competitive premium cars is the way forward. Koenigsegg were seen as the future salvation of Saab in Sweden.

Industry insiders see this differently :

• Current production rates are around 35,000 (retail sales are less) per year. It is generally held that annual figures closer to 500,000 are needed to generate enough income to replace platforms over their life time.
• Saab has been emasculated during the 20 years of GM rule. Design, engineering, parts warehousing, finance, wholesale distribution, retail distribution and purchasing are now heavily entwined within the GM business. This was a sensible cost saving strategy at the time, but is now a threat to the survival of the Saab business. And remember that all Saab engines will be sourced through GM / Opel companies.
• Saab now have (or will have) two models to serve them for the next 7, or so, years. They won’t be gifts – almost certainly they will be the subject of royalties to GM.
• The Koenigsegg sports car operation provides only a small minority of the investment. It is mostly financed by other financial players, bank borrowings and government loans. From this point of view it is a venture capital operation, and the players probably intend recovering their investment sooner rather than later. The most likely scenario is that they develop the business and sell it by 2015. It would make a fine addition to one of the Chinese car manufacturing operations wishing to penetrate the premium market ?
• Koenigsegg have been very vague on future plans. “Exciting future brand development“ means what ? It may be that they intend to sell the Saab name and production lines whilst keeping (or selling ?) the Trollhattan factory. There have been rumours of using it to assemble electric cars.
• In fact, Koenigsegg bring very little to the party, and arguably their presence is a threat to the future of Saab. They are unable to provide parts, retail or wholesale car distribution chains, and there is no obvious route forward with joint platform development. Saab really needed an existing manufacturer who could provide the parts of the business lost in the GM years.
• GM are happy to get rid of Saab. Saab employees see Koenigsegg as the best option if they will be able to control the company in the future.
• There have been a few articles in the financial press questioning the future of Saab with Koenigsegg. There were criticisms of the transparency of the Koenigsegg group. Then Mark Bishop pulled out (a major financial player concerned about publicity ?). Now, it seems that Koenigsegg may not have enough funds to invest either : www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/saab-a27.shtml
& http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090826-707159.html ,
www.ft.com/cms/s/a9abb1b6-9045-11de-bc5 ... abdc0.html .
• Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt has stated, “There are those trying to change the way companies should be run in Sweden. Firstly, the buyer stumps up insufficient funds. Then the venture capital and credit markets ... decline to join in. And then the state is left there as the largest venture capitalist of them all, who with welfare money should go in and assume the risk that no one else wants to take.”


As GM are now reconsidering the Opel position, could Saab be the premium product offering ? Opel and Saab are already entwined, but Opel are believed to be against future tie ups with Saab.

It is hard to see where Saab will be in 2019 ?

DETROIT, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- General Motors Co. said Tuesday a Swedish buyer lined up to purchase Saab Automobiles had backed out of the deal.

It was, perhaps, a long shot. The New York Times said the buyer, Koenigsegg Automotive, is a niche sports car company that has 45 employees and is unlisted.

More ... www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/11/24/GM ... 259083575/

Sad for Saab employees and the few remaining enthusiasts, but always predictable.

Peter

[shel]

US motor cycles ................

Harley Davidson relaunched themselves as a traditional US lifestyle product in the cowboy mould. An attempted move into small 2 stroke machines following the acquisition of Aermacchi of Italy was abandoned in the 1970's.

Kinda-sorta. The Harley Hummer 2-stroke was virtually a clone of the BSA Bantam. I can't remember where they were built, but I don't think Aermacchi was involved. Aermacchi built 250cc and 350cc 4-stroke singles for Harley, but they weren't all that popular.

Really, once Honda et al decided to conquer the US market, everyone else was delegated to being, at best, a niche player.

Back then, I was a mechanic in the largest motorcycle shop in a US city of over a million people. We sold Honda, Ducati, BMW, BSA, Norton, and Matchless; we sold at least 10 Hondas for every bike of any other brand. In the year I worked there, we sold no Ducatis, no Nortons, one Matchless, two BMWs, and a half-dozen BSAs. We sold about 6 Hondas a week.

On the subject of SAAB ... once they lost their individuality, they lost their selling point. I liked the old ones, say up through the 900/9000 years, and I really dug my old roommate's 750 GT, but the new, jumped-up-Opel SAABs leave me cold.

-Shel

[peter]

23:59:59 for SAAB ?

General Motors Co. said it will phase out its Swedish Saab brand if no deal is reached by the end of this month.

More ...

Sad, but predictable

Peter

[peter]

Kinda-sorta. The Harley Hummer 2-stroke was virtually a clone of the BSA Bantam. I can't remember where they were built, but I don't think Aermacchi was involved.

This is the one I remember working on in the 60's :




Are you thinking of an earlier generation (40's and early 50's ?) which looked like this :






Peter

[shel]

Basically, yep and yep.

The Aermacchi horizontal single engine with the massive horizontally-finned cylinder is pretty unforgettable, though I don't have any particular memories of the cycle parts. I knew a woman who had one, back in the sixties, but I don't remember the cycle as well as I remember the rider. They just weren't all that popular in our area.

The Hummer ... I don't know if I ever actually saw one, though I saw pictures and heard second-hand tales. I did have a BSA Bantam for a short period of time, and it was very similar, although a mirror-image, with the shift on the right, etc.

By the time I got into motorcycles, in 1965, most of the smaller non-Japanese machines were pretty much gone. There were a lot of older, larger British bikes about, but in the sub-250cc class, you were hard-pressed to find anything but Japanese bikes then.

Back in the day, I had quite a number of non-Japanese bikes. I was fairly brand-agostic: Triumph (Tiger Cub, 500, Bonneville), BSA (B31, Lightning), Ducati Diana, even a Jawa. Later, though, it was pretty much Honda, Honda, Honda.

-Shel

[peter]

The old one looks like the original 125cc Bantam.

I had ......... BSA Bantam D7, Triumph Tiger Cub, Ducati 250 OHC, Norton 350, Triumph TR6R, Suzuki 250 (15 yrs later), then learned how to lose more money faster on old cars and boats.



Peter

[shel]

I had ......... BSA Bantam D7, Triumph Tiger Cub, Ducati 250 OHC, Norton 350, Triumph TR6R, Suzuki 250 (15 yrs later), then learned how to lose more money faster on old cars and boats.

Yeah, you can spend a lot of money on old cars, but at least they don't sink at their moorings like old boats do.

You needn't ask how I know.

-Shel

[james-g]

When I was working on the construction of the M2 motorway, I had a company Bantam which got clogged up with the chalk every day, so I had to call a van with a replacement to keep going.

I had a Tiger Cub also and a pre-war 650 shaft driven Sunbeam but my last bike was a BMW in the 80s.

You don't have to lose money on old cars.

I bought the one shown here:
http://www.astonmartins.com/prewar/bamf ... 6valve.htm
for £100 and sold it for £125 in 1958. The present owner has had the car since then and it must be worth rather more now, although he needed to spend a bit on it.

[peter]

I actually made money until the last boat.

I started with old cars and bikes as transport, then as a supposed investment pot when I had company cars.

I even "broke even" on my first boat. Then it was all downhill.

I haven't told Mrs Peter that I've added these to my favourites :

www.leboncoin.fr/li?q=&ca=13_s&th=1&c=3 ... z=ex:75001
www.kettering-classics.com
www.vintagebike.co.uk/Classifieds/categories/9.html
www.drclassic.co.uk
www.oldbikemart.co.uk/classifieds.php
www.andybuysbikes.com
www.motorcyclesclassic.com
www.cotswold-classics.co.uk
www.gbmotorcycles.com

www.autosalon-singen.de/Liste.aspx?&sel ... guageID=en

I have a friend who had storage space and a bit more money and never sold his old bikes.
He now has 20+ 50's & 60's big singles including a Norton International, BSA DBD34 Goldstar, Thruxton Velocette, etc. The early ones were bought for less than £20 (usually another for spares !).
His first mc was a 50's military spec 125cc Bantam which he bought new, still in its delivery crate, in 1967. Since passing his test he has always had big singles.
In the 1970's he kept the bikes in a warehouse on a sisused airfield. We used to race the bikes round the perimeter road - no helmets, tax or insurance of course !




Peter

[peter]

I've been thinking a bit more about the Koenigsegg explanation of their withdrawal from the Saab negotiations.

Many have assumed that the problem was GM delays and reduced Saab sales.

Given that expensive sports cars suffer heavily in times of recession, could it have been Keoenigsegg that ran out of time ? One scenario is that they needed the Saab deal which would have carried them through to better times (remembering also they were putting in very little cash themselves).

Interestingly Broughtons, who are both the Spyker and Koenigsegg exclusive dealers for UK have 1 used and 2 new Koenigsegg cars in stock and 1 used Spyker : http://www.broughtons.co.uk

Auto Salon Singen have two nearly new examples including this one : http://www.autosalon-singen.de/verkauf- ... Koenigsegg

A couple more here http://www.callisma.se including a 2010 model from stock.

In fact, a little research located 18 advertised for sale here : http://www.vast.com/cars/used-for-sale-Koenigsegg/ and another 10 are listed here : http://www.jameslist.com/brands/koenigsegg

And many more here : http://www.google.com/search?&q=new+koenigsegg+for+sale

There are quite a few 2008 & 2009 with very very low mileage.



Thought provoking, perhaps ?

[peter]

Interesting to look at the GM board of directors following the (did he jump or was he pushed ?) resignation of CEO Fritz Henderson after 25 years with the company.

GM board of Directors

Daniel F. Akerson
Managing Director and
Head of Global Buyout,
The Carlyle Group
Director since July 24, 2009

David Bonderman
Co-Founding Partner,
TPG
Director since July 24, 2009

Erroll B. Davis, Jr.
Chancellor,
University System of Georgia
Director since July 10, 2009

Stephen J. Girsky
President,
S. J. Girsky & Company
Director since July 10, 2009

E. Neville Isdell
Retired Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer,
The Coca-Cola Company
Director since July 10, 2009

Robert D. Krebs
Retired Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer,
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation
Director since July 24, 2009

Kent Kresa
Chairman Emeritus,
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Director since July 10, 2009

Philip A. Laskawy
Retired Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer,
Ernst & Young LLP
Director since July 10, 2009

Kathryn V. Marinello
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer,
Ceridian Corporation
Director since July 10, 2009

Patricia F. Russo
Former Chief Executive Officer,
Alcatel-Lucent
Director since July 24, 2009

Carol M. Stephenson
Dean,
Richard Ivey School of Business,
The University of Western Ontario
Director since July 24, 2009

Edward E. Whitacre, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus of AT&T Inc
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
General Motors Company
Director since July 10, 2009



A wealth of Motor Industry experience ?

[peter]

GM announced today that they had not managed to sell Saab and would wind down the company in Sweden.

Source : www.thestreet.com/story/10649310/1/saab ... reath.html

It now remains to be seen if the name will survive within GM or possibly China.

Peter

[peter]

Whilst Saab goes through last minute reviews by GM, Automotive Management magazine has today announced the agreement of terms for the sale of Volvo :

Ford has agreed the terms to sell its Volvo brand to Chinese car manufacturer Geely.

Ford said some work still remains to be completed but a "definitive sale agreement is anticipated in the first quarter".

Government approval of the deal still needs to come through before it can all be finalised and financing for the deal also needs to be completed. However, Ford said “substantive commercial terms” have been agreed.

Details of how much Geely will be paying for Volvo remain confidential but it is rumoured the Chinese manufacturer will be paying approximately £1.2 billion in comparison to the £4 billion Ford paid for the Swedish brand back in 1999.

Peter

[serge]

Volvo to the Chinese by the looks of it .................







............... will they be able to pronounce it?

[peter]

Lucky they didn't buy Rolls Royce, Range Rover or something difficult to pronounce ?

Peter

[serge]

Probably just give them numbers - like their menu's .............

[peter]

A warning for Vauxhall ?

Opel is closing it's Antwerp assembly plant to "secure a viable future for the entire Opel and Vauxhall operations". The factory was opened in 1924 and produced the Astra.

Transplant car assembly is long established in Belgium because of historical high import taxes, the provision of a toehold in Benelux, and government incentives to manufacturers. Now the benefits are few, manufacturing wages are lower in Germany, and manufacturers are abandoning Belgium. Over the years the few Belgian manufacturers, BL, Saab, Renault and VW have ceased production in Belgium.

Volvo and Ford continue production, but for how long ?


Opel to close Antwerp plant

News reports :

MUNICH -- General Motors Co. subsidiary Opel announced today it would close its car assembly plant in Antwerp, Belgium.

“We must make this announcement now so that we can secure a viable future for the entire Opel and Vauxhall operations,” Opel CEO Nick Reilly said in a news conference.

The automaker aims to stop production at the factory in the next few months.

The Antwerp closing is the first of several restructuring moves the automaker plans for this year. The others include production cuts at Opel/Vauxhall's remaining European factories and the slashing of up to 8,300 jobs.

The Antwerp plant currently employs 2,606 people, which represents about 5 percent of the Opel/Vauxhall's European work force.

The factory makes the Astra three-door hatchback, five-door station wagon and Astra TwinTop coupe cabriolet. Since production started in April 1925 more than 13 million cars and trucks have been built at the site.


Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... 9981/1193##ixzz0dFPH8k2k

[peter]

A strange twist ?

Todays motor trade headline :

The US government accuses Toyota of failing to tell it about accelerator pedal defects and will press for a record fine

How will the same US government react to any similar errors by GM now that GM is owned by ........... the US government ?

Peter

[peter]

A report from BBC suggests that GM are a long way from recovery ............

US car giant General Motors has reported a $4.3bn (£2.8bn) net loss for July to December of last year.
The six months cover the period after the Detroit-based carmaker's emergence from bankruptcy.
GM's chief financial officer Chris Liddell said: "I continue to believe that we have a chance of achieving profitability in 2010."
GM has undergone a major restructuring and the US government currently owns a 61% stake in the company.

More : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8607883.stm

[peter]

Saab - SPYKER

The Swedish press has started to query the role of Spyker.

Spyker Cars has never made a profit and lost around $30m in 2009 on sales estimated at $10m.

Spyker will withdraw the funds from Saab GB (the UK Saab wholesale distribution company formerly owned 100% by Saab Automobile), arguing that Saab GB is not a Saab subsidiary but an independent company bought from US General Motors.

"Spyker is not taking any money from Saab, this is an independent company which we are buying from GM," said Saab Automobile chairperson and Spyker CEO Victor Muller.

"We are not hiding anything. It is clearly stated in our financial statement," Muller told news agency TT.

Saab GB is currently owned by US General Motors (GM) and is set to be acquired by Spyker Cars for the sum of £1 ($1.5).

"We don't see anything strange in this. We have said all along that no money will move from Saab to Spyker Cars. And it does not in this case either. Saab GB is a completely independent firm which Saab does not own," Victor Muller said.

Spyker Cars has until July 15th to hand over the outstanding 175 million kronor ( $24m) to GM to complete the purchase of Saab. Swedish rules prohibit buying a firm with its own cash and Muller argues that the latest move is not in breach of these regulations.

At the time of the takeover, the 31 Dec 2009 balance sheets of Saab Automobile and Saab GB were consolidated, whereas the Spyker results were not available.


Quote from the joint Saab AB - Spyker press release of 26 Jan 2010 :

"Both Saab management and Saab GB management prepared an estimated balance sheet as
at 31 December 2009 for the purpose of this transaction. These estimated balance sheets are still subject to final account closing and audit procedures.
• Spyker Cars does not yet have a balance sheet as at 31 December 2009 ready for reporting purposes. As such, it would be premature to show a pro-forma combined balance sheet for Spyker, Saab and Saab GB as at 31 December 2009.
• Therefore Spyker only disclose an indicative combined balance sheet of Saab and Saab GB as at Closing date based on the estimated balance sheets for both entities as at 31 December 2009, adjusted for the impact of the transaction items as at Closing date"

I guess the questions that need to be asked are :

Why consolidate the accounts of Saab GB and Saab Automobile if "Saab GB is a completely independent firm" ?

Without the availability of $30m from Saab GB, how would Spyker have paid the final $24m tranche to GM ?

Peter


Further information :

http://www.thelocal.se/26176/20100420
http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showt ... p?t=182416
http://www.saabsunited.com/2010/04/the- ... glish.html
http://www.spykercars.com/download/inve ... _final.pdf

[peter]

In an interview with www.autonews.com, Chrysler - Fiat reveal their global vision :


Travel by time machine to a large Chrysler Group dealership in 2014, and you'll find radical changes.

In one corner is an Alfa Romeo boutique where two U.S.-built crossovers sit next to a sleek new Giulia sedan assembled in Turin, Italy.

Nearby, a Chrysler 300C built in Canada shares space with a midsized Chrysler brand sedan designed in Auburn Hills, Mich., but built on the same Turin line as the Giulia.

In the Dodge brand space, customers browse American rear-drive muscle cars, such as the Hemi-powered Challenger, and a front-drive compact sedan built in Italy.

In the Ram area, a massive 3500 Ram pickup built in Mexico sits alongside a small European-style commercial van developed by Fiat and built in Turkey.

A salesperson shows a Mexico-built Fiat 500 minicar that gets 40 mpg, powered by an engine with advanced breathing technology from Fiat.

If the vision that Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, laid out last week in Turin comes to pass, the multinational offerings will all be sold under one roof at select Chrysler Group dealerships.

As Chrysler marks the one-year anniversary of its bankruptcy filing, Marchionne is guiding the two carmakers into a far-reaching trans-Atlantic interdependence that Daimler, Chrysler's previous owner, never dreamed of.

“It's going to be kind of a World's Fair of auto brands,” says John Wolkonowicz, analyst for IHS Global Insight.

The plan faces steep challenges:

-- Chrysler must attract young customers who appreciate small cars and imports. Most shoppers consider Chrysler a seller of pickups, minivans, big cars and SUVs.

-- Fiat and Chrysler must overcome cultural differences to combine purchasing, product development and manufacturing.

-- And Marchionne wants to launch more than 40 new and redesigned models from 2011 to 2014, increasing global volumes to 6 million vehicles for the Chrysler and Fiat groups. Last year they sold 3.5 million.

That's a tall order in a brutally competitive industry -- even if Marchionne creates the “inextricably intertwined” Fiat-Chrysler organization that he envisions.

Last week Chrysler posted an operating profit of $143 million in the first quarter, despite lower sales. And Chrysler boosted its cash position by $1.5 billion, to $7.4 billion, by the end of March, giving it more financial leeway to survive until the integration starts to pay off in two years.

Operating factories at full capacity is a key part of Marchionne's plan. Fiat Auto and Chrysler Group vehicles will be made in each other's factories and shipped both ways across the Atlantic.

For instance, a large Alfa Romeo SUV will be built in the United States on the same platform as the Jeep Liberty starting in 2014 for sale in the United States and Europe. Chrysler also will build a compact Alfa SUV starting in 2012.

Fiat now plans to sell four vehicles in North America, all variants on the 500: the hatchback, convertible, sporty Abarth and a four-door hatchback with a high roof.

Marchionne's plan calls for consolidating Chrysler's and Fiat's smaller and mid-sized vehicles onto three main platforms: small, medium and compact. Each platform will account for a million units by 2014. For comparison, Fiat's mini- and small platforms each generated about 500,000 units in 2009.

Other platforms will be used for pickups, minivans, large cars, large SUVs and commercial vans.

The often-delayed revival of Alfa, in which Chrysler would play a significant role, would also help Marchionne fill factories and showroom floors.

Cutting costs is another key to Marchionne's plan. The companies are even saving on executive salaries. Olivier Francois, a native of France, is CEO of both Lancia and Chrysler and runs marketing globally for all Fiat and Chrysler brands. Under his leadership, the two brands will share their entire lineup. Francois' salary, like Marchionne's, is paid entirely by Fiat.

Meanwhile, by combining purchasing, Fiat and Chrysler expect to save about $1.0 billion between now and 2014, according to Marchionne.

Fiat and Chrysler will save another combined $1.1 billion over the period, mainly in the engineering and powertrain areas, Marchionne said.

Chrysler and Fiat want to speed products to market by standardizing more components and subsystems in Chrysler and Fiat vehicles.

Harald Wester, Fiat head of engineering and design, said it took Fiat 26 months to take the Fiat Stilo from design freeze to production in 2001. That time had been slashed to 15 months with the recent introduction of the Alfa Romeo MiTo, a sporty subcompact sold in Europe.

The MiTo shares 65 percent of its parts with other Fiat models, a much higher percent than earlier models.

A lot of things must go right for Marchionne's bold plan to become a reality in Chrysler dealerships by 2014. But he has already shown he can motivate the Chrysler work force. And he's under no illusions the job will get any easier.

As he said during a Detroit auto show interview: “The to-do list for us -- it's enough to choke a horse."

IT'S ALL ABOUT SHARING
Efficiency efforts planned by Fiat and Chrysler
• Chrysler Sebring replacement will be assembled in Turin alongside Alfa Romeo Giulia.
• Factory in Dundee, Mich., will build Fiat's 1.4-liter engine for Fiat 500 and Chrysler vehicles.
• Savings of about $1.0 billion are expected between now and 2014 from joint purchasing.

[peter]

Things are not going well at GM ............


THE STORM AT GENERAL MOTORS

Ewanick must restore order -- but still drive creativity -- at marketing operations buffeted by change

DETROIT -- New U.S. marketing chief Joel Ewanick is accelerating the churn of advertising messages at General Motors Co.

Ewanick has scrapped Chevrolet's weeks-old print advertising tag line, "Excellence for All." And the "Mark of Leadership" slogan on Cadillac's new commercials will probably miss the cut for the next round of ads.

In the past year, at least 17 GM marketing leaders have changed jobs or left the company. Three of GM's four remaining U.S. brands underwent major ad campaign changes -- Buick more than once. Ewanick is the fourth U.S. marketing chief in the last year.

The turmoil has spooked marketing staffers and sent inconsistent messages to consumers when post-bankruptcy GM's brands are desperate for clear identities to spark sales.

Ewanick's top priority now is to make compelling changes that last, cementing order and purpose for GM's brands.

Wide review

Ewanick, the 49-year-old marketer behind the Hyundai Assurance campaign, arrived this month at GM after less than two months at Nissan North America.

Ewanick's operating style was formed largely as general marketing manager at nimble Porsche Cars North America -- a far cry from bureaucratic, cautious GM. At GM, he has shown himself decisive and open to reviewing every facet of GM marketing.

GM declined to make Ewanick available for an interview. Four people familiar with his work at GM spoke with Automotive News, but declined to be identified.

Right away at GM, he told staffers that "he needed the freedom to do his own thing," one source says. "So that's what he's doing. There's a clear understanding that if things aren't working, things are going to change."

GM marketers already had spent a year reeling from change before Ewanick arrived.

Mark LaNeve, vice president of U.S. sales, service and marketing, lost control of U.S. marketing in July and left GM in October. Next came then-Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, whose marketing tenure lasted five months, and then-U.S. sales and marketing boss Susan Docherty, who lasted five months and now is transferring to GM's Shanghai office.

They wrestled with the fallout from GM's bankruptcy last year while the automaker focused on restructuring and generating cash. Now, the sources say, Ewanick is concentrating on strategies for each brand. He wants to turn away from marketing the whole corporation.

At Cadillac, for instance, he is keeping the positioning that GM's marketers had already chosen, targeting German luxury brands. But the next round of advertising, due in late summer or early fall, will inaugurate a new campaign instead of continuing the one launched this month, two sources say.

The new commercials likely will omit the "Mark of Leadership" tag line that has appeared at the end of this month's new TV spots and may have another slogan in its place, one of the sources says.

Ewanick's primary focus is Chevrolet, two sources say, which has accounted for 72 percent of GM's U.S. light-vehicle 2010 sales through April.

Two weeks after GM announced Ewanick's appointment, the automaker said Chevrolet would change advertising agencies for the second time in a month. Publicis Worldwide was out, despite having won the account in April over 91-year Chevrolet ad partner Campbell-Ewald. The San Francisco shop Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which took Ewanick's Hyundai Assurance campaign from concept to air in 37 days, was in.

Ewanick has also nixed the print-only "Excellence for All" tag line."It's not something you're going to see for much longer," says Chevrolet spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin.

Ewanick also will try to improve GM's use of social media -- connecting customers through online campaigns that use blogs, Facebook and YouTube. That's an area where GM trails Ford Motor Co. and other competitors.

"We are light-years behind," one insider says. "That's where we need help."

Churning ad messages

Ewanick must avoid the miscues that plagued his predecessors.

Take Buick, for instance. While Hyundai was riding the momentum of Hyundai Assurance, which allows customers to return their car if they lose their income, Buick last June launched its "Take a look at me now" campaign and tag line.

When the spots, which portrayed vehicles as supermodels and featured a stuck-up Hollywood director, missed their mark, a new tag line and campaign debuted in September. Buick now stands for "The new class of world class."

Chevrolet similarly has decided to switch marketing messages twice in the last year. After the "American Revolution" tag line was declared dead in July, the brand ran a few commercials created both by Campbell-Ewald and Publicis. The new campaign was officially launched last week, with commercials from Publicis touting Chevrolet's "Red X" quality engineers. But Chevrolet is changing messages again, with Goodby on board and "Excellence for All" in the wastebasket.

The turmoil at least requires a fresh round of bonding between GM marketing staffers and new brand chiefs. Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick-GMC each have had at least three head marketers in the past 12 months.

"It's like a clean slate, since all our leaders on the brand are new," one insider says. "We're trying to work with them and trying to understand them.

"Everybody here in GM wants to be successful, but all the turmoil of management changes makes it very difficult."

With so many ideas and managers canned in recent months, some sources say GM's marketing staff is nervous or "hunkered down."

"We were told a week before we knew Joel was coming that 'this is our team; now, let's go,'" one insider says. "But the latest changes have cut the wind out of everybody's sails. Now we have to climb the mountain again to the new leader, scrap stuff and start over."

But others say staffers finally feel they're free to move forward and build brand strategies that last.

"I'm pretty comfortable that this is the last change," one person says. "Now if we have problems with executions, we'll do what we need to do. But we're going forward."

OUT WITH THE OLD, OUT WITH THE NEW
Since May 2009, GM has churned marketing executives, ad agencies and ad campaigns. Here is a sampling.

U.S. marketing chiefs' revolving door
Mark LaNeve: 2005 to July 2009
Bob Lutz: July to December
Susan Docherty: December to May
Joel Ewanick: Arrived from Nissan in May

Churn among Cadillac marketing heads
Mark McNabb: 2008 until June 1, 2009.our story said he'd "leave on June 1"
Steve Hill: Interim had that specific title in June 1 and July 31 2009.
Bryan Nesbitt: August 1 to March 2
Don Butler: Took over in March


Read more: www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? ... 19963/1018

[peter]

DETROIT - General Motors Co. is seeking a line of credit of at least $5 billion with a group of banks to enable it to repay debt and prepare for another decline in U.S. auto sales, said a person familiar with the talks.

GM had $23.3 billion of cash and about $14 billion of debt as of March 31, according to its first-quarter financial report.

It repaid the final $5.8 billion of government loans in April. The company is preparing to pay back the remainder of the government assistance through a public stock offering that could happen later this year. That offering would enable the federal government to sell at least part of its 61 percent stake in GM.

More : http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100703/NEWS03/7030310/1004/news03

[peter]

The fallout from this is still going on.

GM are closing their Antwerp Astra factory having not found any buyers.


More :
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/79d88dea-cfbb ... ab49a.html

[peter]

The ripples continue to spread ...

Mahindra will acquire SSang Yong



Mahindra is an Indian manufacturing group who commenced car manufacture after the war with Jeep assembly, later moving into small cars and assembly/development of the Suzuki Jeep/Jimni range. They also currently produce the Logan jointly with Renault.




Ssang Yong is a South Korean manufacturer of cars established in the 1960's. They are best known for large cars and 4WD vehicles. They had a technology agreement with MB in the 90's, but suffered financially during the Asian recession of the late 90's. They were acquired by Daewoo, who then disposed of Ssang Yong as Daewoo themselves headed for bankruptcy (Daewoo is now owned by GM and manufactures the low end Chevrolet products sold in Europe). After a brief flirtation with SAIC (a Chinese car Co who bought a 51% holding) they went into receivership.