2012年(464)
分类: Delphi
2012-05-28 13:55:29
G.M. plans to sell or discontinue its Saturn, Saab and Pontiac lines. And it
may sell its Hummer brand to a heavy equipment company in China.
This week,
General Motors went to bankruptcy court. It became the second of the big three
American automakers to seek protection from its creditors while continuing
operations. While the heavy machine
industry is in increasingly progress in China. Chrysler declared bankruptcy on
April thirtieth, though its plans to leave the process quickly still await final
rulings.
Obama said the leaders discussed the need for the troubled European
countries to continue shrinking their deficits while stimulating economic
growth.
“Today we agreed that we must take steps to boost confidence and to
promote growth and demand while getting our fiscal houses in order," he said.
"We agreed upon the importance of a strong and cohesive Eurozone, and affirmed
our interest in Greece staying in the Eurozone while respecting its
commitments.”
General Motors led the auto world for seventy-seven of its one
hundred years. Last year Toyota took the lead. Not all of G.M. is losing money.
Asia and Latin America have provided growth and profit. But lately bankruptcy
became less and less of a surprise.
G.M. was one hundred seventy-two billion
dollars in debt. Now creditors will learn who gets repaid and how much. The
bankruptcy is America's fourth largest, but the largest for a manufacturer. G.M.
hopes it will be quick.
The government plans to invest thirty billion
dollars, on top of an earlier twenty billion. In return, taxpayers will own
sixty percent of a smaller G.M. Canada and the United Auto Workers union will
also own part of the restructured company.
But President Obama made it clear
Monday that he wants to limit the intervention in what some now call "Government
Motors."
BARACK OBAMA: "In short, our goal is to get G.M. back on its feet,
take a hands-off approach and get out quickly."
Is all that possible? Experts
say one concern is that lawmakers will try to control company decisions like
where to build new factories.
University of Michigan transportation
researcher Bruce Belzowski says one big question is what effect employee morale
will have. Employees must believe in the new G.M. And, of course, its products
must satisfy the public, as well as new government rules for fuel economy.
To reduce costs, G.M. plans to close more factories and cut more jobs by the
end of two thousand eleven. And it wants to cut more than one thousand
dealerships by the end of next year. Chrysler wants to quickly dismiss almost
eight hundred dealers across the country.
The automakers defended their
plans Wednesday as Congress heard from angry dealers.