auto industry – News Stories About auto industry - Page 28

Debunking 6 Myths About Detroit Carmakers

ANALYSIS

Nov 18, 2008 2:45 PM CST

Debunking 6 Myths About Detroit Carmakers

Clamor over bailout obscures some truths about Big Three

(Newser) - Misconceptions and half-truths abound in the discussion over giving Detroit’s big three carmakers a chunk of federal bailout cash. Mark Phelan, in the Free Press, clears up six myths:

Nobody buys GM, Ford or Chrysler anymore.

Fact: The three combined sold 8.5 million vehicles domestically last year—GM

...

Ford Sells 20% Stake
in Mazda to Raise Cash

Nov 18, 2008 8:40 AM CST

Ford Sells 20% Stake in Mazda to Raise Cash

The sale should net Ford about $540 million

(Newser) - Ford is slashing its stake in Mazda by nearly two-thirds, joining other struggling US automakers in a fire-sale of prized assets to stay afloat. Ford, which owns 33.4% of Mazda, will sell about a 20% stake, the companies said. The sale would net Ford $540 million based on Mazda's...

Save GM With
Guided Bankruptcy

OPINION

Nov 18, 2008 8:07 AM CST

Save GM With Guided Bankruptcy

Let's make this a Chapter 11 affair, not a Chapter 7

(Newser) - GM is claiming all it needs is a “bridge loan,” but the automaker is losing money so fast that bridge would be burned by February, writes Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times. What GM really needs is bankruptcy—but one guided by the government. “Taxpayers...

Control Emerges as Key Issue in Detroit Rescue Bills

Nov 18, 2008 2:35 AM CST

Control Emerges as Key Issue in Detroit Rescue Bills

House version calls for tough steps to make US industry more viable

(Newser) - Competing versions of a rescue package for US automakers have hit the floors of the House and Senate, the Detroit Free Press reports. The bills, both of which face fierce opposition from Republicans, draw on the $700 billion bailout allotted to the finance sector and call for similar limits on...

Detroit Bailout Is Key Opportunity for US Economy

OPINION

Nov 17, 2008 12:58 PM CST

Detroit Bailout Is Key Opportunity for US Economy

Bankruptcy spells disaster; loan would speed green progress

(Newser) - Letting one—or more—of the Big Three automakers slip into bankruptcy could push the US economy into depression and would imperil millions of jobs tied to the industry, writes Jeffrey D. Sachs in the Washington Post. Instead, the government should bail out the industry, taking the lead in positioning...

Foreign Automakers Could Fill Detroit Vacuum

Nov 17, 2008 9:50 AM CST

Foreign Automakers Could Fill Detroit Vacuum

But gov't risks big job losses if Big Three fail

(Newser) - If Detroit’s “Big Three” do collapse, foreign-owned automakers would be able to pick up the slack, industry experts tell the New York Times. These foreign giants have a big enough US presence to swiftly take over the industry and its supplier network, but the transition would likely be...

Slowdown Puts Mining Outfits
in Deep Hole

Nov 17, 2008 8:43 AM CST

Slowdown Puts Mining Outfits in Deep Hole

China's drop in demand further drives down commodities

(Newser) - Mining companies are shutting down production, laying off workers, and trying to sell excess product as the global economic slowdown drills into the industry’s profits, reports the Wall Street Journal. Metal prices dropped a record 35% last month, and nearly every mineral has been hit. Mining, once an economic...

Americans Question
Detroit Bailout

Nov 17, 2008 4:55 AM CST

Americans Question Detroit Bailout

Taxpayers say auto industry needs to modernize or die

(Newser) - Americans are deeply skeptical about bailing out Detroit automakers, Reuters reports. While many acknowledge that job losses will be heavy if the industry is allowed to go under, there’s a widespread belief that shoring up the manufacturers’ outdated business model would be unfair—and an enormous waste of money....

Newt: Palin's
Not It in 2012

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Nov 16, 2008 1:48 PM CST

Newt: Palin's Not It in 2012

Group of frontrunners will emerge, Former House Speaker predicts

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich predicts that Sarah Palin will not be the Republicans’ 2012 presidential nominee, the Hill reports. “I think that she is going to be a significant player,” the former speaker of the House told Face the Nation. “But she’s going to be one of 20...

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt:
Brooks, Krauthammer

OPINION

Nov 14, 2008 12:31 PM CST

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt: Brooks, Krauthammer

Auto bailout throws good money after bad, goes against US capitalism itself

(Newser) - American prosperity relies on creative destruction—the failure of nonviable companies and their replacement by defter rivals. The government endeavors to protect the worker in periods of transition, writes David Brooks in the New York Times, but not the firms themselves. That’s why the auto-industry bailout is a bad...

Chrysler Execs to Get $30M
in Retention Bonuses

Nov 14, 2008 10:11 AM CST

Chrysler Execs to Get $30M in Retention Bonuses

Will auto bailout change that?

(Newser) - Even as nearly bankrupt Detroit automakers beg Congress for a bailout, Chrysler is preparing to pay its top executives $30 million in retention bonuses, the Detroit Free Press reports. Chrysler says the deals were necessary measures to keep top talent in place when they were conceived last year during Daimler's...

Auto Bailout Unlikely
Until Obama Takes Office

Nov 14, 2008 2:55 AM CST

Auto Bailout Unlikely Until Obama Takes Office

Detroit automakers warn that next year may be too late for rescue

(Newser) - It’s looking unlikely that a new economic stimulus package and a Detroit bailout will happen this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The proposals are facing stiff resistance from Republicans and may have to wait until the new, more heavily Democratic Congress convenes in January and Barack Obama takes...

The Big Debate:
Bailout or Bankruptcy?

Analysis

Nov 13, 2008 8:24 AM CST

The Big Debate: Bailout or Bankruptcy?

Should the government pay for GM's surgery

(Newser) - The water is coming in fast at General Motors, and Washington is readying its bailing buckets. But simply giving GM money won’t keep America’s biggest automaker afloat. GM needs massive restructuring, and many believe bankruptcy court is the place to do it, says the New York Times, reviewing...

Bailout? Detroit
Needs a Brain

OPINION

Nov 12, 2008 10:28 AM CST

Bailout? Detroit Needs a Brain

US auto industry needs to re-learn how to innovate; Mich. lawmakers not immune, either

(Newser) - The appalling prospect of a $25 billion bailout for Detroit automakers—“ an industry that became brain dead”—has Thomas Friedman, writing in the New York Times, outraged. He blasts “a very un-innovative business culture, visionless management, and overly generous labor contracts” for the mess, and heaps blame...

Detroit Needs
Green Deal
or No Deal

OPINION

Nov 12, 2008 9:01 AM CST

Detroit Needs Green Deal or No Deal

If we bail out the auto companies, let's do it on our terms

(Newser) - If we’re going to bail out the auto industry, writes Joseph Romm in Salon, let’s do it right. Detroit’s Big Three have spent years fighting tooth and nail against the very innovations that could save them: higher fuel efficiency and hybrid-electric cars. Detroit has “been suicidally...

Pelosi Urges Lame-Duck Session to Push Auto Bailout

Nov 11, 2008 5:35 PM CST

Pelosi Urges Lame-Duck Session to Push Auto Bailout

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi plans to convene a lame-duck House session to vote on an expanded rescue of the auto industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. “I am confident Congress can consider emergency assistance legislation next week,” the House Speaker said. Both GM and Ford have said they are cash...

Obama Urges Bush
to Help Automakers

Nov 11, 2008 3:53 AM CST

Obama Urges Bush to Help Automakers

But president links Detroit aid to Dem backing for Colombia free trade pact

(Newser) - Barack Obama urged President Bush during their White House meeting yesterday to extend emergency aid to the auto industry, the New York Times reports. The president indicated that he might be willing to approve Detroit aid and a broader economic stimulus package—but only on the condition that the president-elect...

Detroit Bailout Highlights an Industry That's Moved On

Nov 10, 2008 9:59 AM CST

Detroit Bailout Highlights an Industry That's Moved On

'Big Three' sink while other carmakers swim

(Newser) - The government seems poised to bail out the auto industry, but there are two auto industries, writes Joseph White in the Wall Street Journal. There’s the unionized, drowning Big Three, stuck with ancient product strategies and huge retiree health obligations, and the non-unionized, mostly healthy foreign-owned manufacturers. This second...

Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet

OPINION

Nov 9, 2008 12:11 PM CST

Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet

Nobel laureate calls on Obama, new Congress to act now

(Newser) - The road to energy efficiency is paved with the same solutions needed to fix the economic crisis, Al Gore writes in a New York Times op-ed. Dismissing proposals for domestic drilling, the climate crusader says, “We simply cannot any longer base the strategy for human survival on a cynical...

Dems Push Paulson to
Fund Big 3 Automakers

Nov 8, 2008 4:56 PM CST

Dems Push Paulson to Fund Big 3 Automakers

Pelosi, Reid want $700B bailout to aid GM, Ford, and Chrysler

(Newser) - Congressional Democrats are urging Henry Paulson to pump funds into the sputtering Big Three automakers, Politico reports. In a letter to the treasury secretary, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid called for a broadening of the $700 billion bailout package to help GM, Ford, and Chrysler qualify for federal aid. A...