I love my new Chevy Impala. I have been a “Chevy” person my entire life and will continue to be. The new Camaro looks real good, the side view body style looks a bit like my ’69 Camaro. As far as the bailout goes, I hope they do succeed. After all, didn’t the taxpayers money bail them out? Since some of my taxpaying dollars were used, I don’t want GM to fail.

Another thing that bothered me was when Anheuser-Busch was sold to a Belgian company. An American ICON sold to a foreign company.

Hi Claire, The new Camaro does look good, but I would rather have a mint condition 69. A friend had one when we were in high school, it would be fun to take one out again.

JimH– I have a ’69 Camaro Rally Sport with hideaway headlights. Charcoal gray with a black vinyl top. Bought it new for $3600. It is a 350 4-barrel and it will haul. It has been a good car. It purrs like a kitten. It has about 80,000 miles on it now. It was hard to keep our hands off it! It is in good condition inside and out. We only drive it in the summertime. It is fun–when I drive it, there are some people that will pull alongside and want to give it “a go.” Geez, at my age it still gives me a thrill.

JimH–I neglected to say the original color was Cortez Silver, my husband had it repainted a month or so ago–now it is charcoal gray metallic. I liked the Cortez Silver better.

Hi Claire, It sounds like a fun car. Enjoy it.

Dam,
Claire you are right, i also do love a good chevy, i just have a hard time with their new owner.

Dennis–The way I look at it is this–the owners are us–correct? Good old taxpaying dollars. I just keep thinking that if GM gets out of the hole, pays back the money, then the government is supposed to back out, right? This is what I am led to believe.

Claire – us and China? http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/asia-china/2010/11/16/279989/SAIC-agrees.htm

libertytrain—I read your link that you posted. I should have known. Nothing is what it seems, and my bubble has burst. I was hoping…but since China owns us now, I shouldn’t be surprised. What a sorry state of affairs.

Claire – you’re right – nothing is as it seems -

Norm,

The two presidents did the right thing.That lard ass fat Rush Limpballs will still say its a commie plot.I hope we got enough crow to go around.I know some of these bloggers must be hungry.Here is the report.

How General motors came back from the brink

The largest share offering in US history begins today and marks the rebirth of the car-making giant

By Stephen Foley

Thursday, 18 November 2010

Cars in production at the General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan

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General Motors, the giant car maker, races back on to the US stock market this morning, after the biggest share offering in American history, and investors were falling over themselves to get a piece of the company.

Just a day after saying it would raise the price of its shares, GM yesterday decided also to increase the number of shares being sold, resulting in billions of dollars extra for its current owners, the US and Canadian governments and the unions representing thousands of retired workers. It is on course to raise $23.1bn, giving the company a market value around $50bn.

Last night, as it set the price for ordinary shares at $33 apiece, the top of its increased range, analysts were already weighing in on the long-term prospects for the company, which since last year has called itself “New GM”. Its pit stop in bankruptcy allowed it to shed thousands of workers, billions of dollars in pension and healthcare liabilities, underperforming factories, unwanted dealerships and four of its eight brands, including Pontiac, Saturn and the notorious gas-guzzler Hummer.

Some $6bn of the IPO proceeds will go to funding obligations to retired workers, helping to resolve a structural problem that had hobbled GM for a generation: it is supporting five times as many retirees as it has employees.

“The old joke was the GM was the world’s largest [health management organisation], which just happened to also sell cars,” says David Whiston, a car industry analyst at Morningstar. “Healthcare costs in the US had just gotten out of control. The company has $5bn in hourly worker costs annually now, compared to $16bn in 2005… The company has posted well over $4bn in net income so far this year. This is a very, very different company.”

After years where it lost around $1,000 on every car it made in North America, GM now turns a profit of around $3,000, and with car sales in the US recovering from the effects of the recession, analysts are forecasting its margins can expand. As importantly, it has had some sales successes, with popular models such as the Chevrolet Traverse mini-SUV and the Buick Lacrosse, a luxury sedan, and has generated some buzz around its forthcoming Chevy Volt, an electric car.

Mr Whiston said he expected the shares to rise towards a fair value of $44. “Old GM” bonds which are still trading, and which will eventually convert into New GM shares, suggest that the stock could be worth in the high-$30s.

Both the Bush and Obama administrations feared that the collapse of GM and its cross-town rival Chrysler would have effects far beyond the companies themselves, as suppliers folded and hundreds of thousands, or possibly millions, of jobs were put at risk. As a result, Wall Street bailout money was redirected to the car industry, and the process of remaking GM began in December 2008.

The US taxpayer has held a 61 per cent stake in GM as a result of the restructuring. To break even on its investment, the Treasury must get an average price of $44 per share, but it decided that it would rather sell more shares now, at a price which risks an ultimate loss to taxpayers, instead of waiting. Its stake is being cut to about 33 per cent, against the earlier planned 43 per cent. GM has been eager to shake off the moniker “Government Motors”, while the Treasury is keen to extricate itself from major interventions in the private sector.

GM sold 478 million common shares at $33 each, raising $15.77bn, as well as $4.35bn in preferred shares, also more than initially planned. Including an overallotment option, which will be settled over the next few days, GM looks set to raise $23.1bn – the biggest initial public offering ever.

What it means for GM’s rivals

The ease with which General Motors has found buyers for its initial public offering bodes well for rival Chrysler’s own planned return to the stock market, Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler chief executive says.

Speaking in Los Angeles ahead of the city’s auto show, Mr Marchionne said Chrysler would not bring forward its IPO plans, pencilled in for the second half of 2011, but would study how GM shares perform. “It will give us the logistics of what this market is looking for, as far as pricing expectations,” he said. “This will give us a great, great precursor for the Chrysler IPO. I’m delighted, it couldn’t have gone better.”

And the executive launched a full-throated defence of the auto bailouts, saying Chrysler had already added 12,000 jobs since bankruptcy and that had an even bigger effect on the economy. “I don’t care what multiplier you use, one-to-four, one-to-seven, including the pizza guy.

“If you go far enough down the chain, I think the multiplier effect is huge. It just reinforces the fact that President Barack Obama did the right the right

This is a company that I worked for for 38 years. GM had already taken steps to downsize and get leaner when the economy nosedived. It was reported in Dec.2008 that GM needed 14 billion dollars on hand just to operate. That’s how big it still was before the bankruptcy. This company used to have hundred’s of thousands of workers. To suggest that GM could have gone bankrupt and still operate by selling off pieces of this company is something that only an outsider would still suggest. Even an attempt to unload Saturn and the Hummer failed. An IPO like this one would never had been possible without the careful planning to every detail. The plant that I worked at built transmissions but had to close it’s doors. It once built bombers used during World War 2 but it’s time was up. It seems more practical to me to save the industry that we still have left and keep everybody paying taxes instead of drawing unemployment. The good paying jobs are drying up and it seems to me that it would be easier to hold on to them than trying to create new ones. It’s sad that more people are upset that GM may pay back the taxpayers and would rather see them fail. I would think it’s more favorable for the banks and auto companies to be successful and pay this money back if we are ever going to restore this economy. Are we still rooting for America? If we don’t come together than there may not be very much left to fight over. This is something that President Bush and President Obama will be praised for long after they are gone. Many would not have stuck their necks out to save the auto industry but would have let it disappear like the other industries that are no longer around. I think they hate government so much because they don’t have the fortitude and skills to govern.

hi

i

Mike
That’s probably true,close to a trillion was dumped and now the chineese are going to be rewarded for their money being devalued. I wounder what they are going to do with the HumVee contract from the military?And by the way It does rub off on you here but thats a good thing!

I know Dan, I put that last line in there because before I came here I was wondering if I might be the only one that tried to think my way through something and not just react to it. Its good to hold a conversation with people and try to open a few eyes. I have had mine opend a few times here now especially around the 9/11 incident. Mike L.