More bad news from Chrysler and GM while Ford still chugging ahead


Chrysler execs say cash will run short in January

GM trying to survive for a shot at Plan O _ Obama

 

what is the definition of chugging ahead? the #1 sales company in the US is Still GM. the F150, #1 for ford, has dropped to #5 overall. Ford may state they have cash on hand (and I am on record saying I bet they dont) but their sales are fast approaching that of chrysler. so fast in fact they chopped 2 car lines this week. possibly spelling doom for mercury by year end. (gm sold 261000 cars/trucks in november vs 182000, which means if the 2008 us market will be 10M units, GM has about 30% of that - simply cuz everyone else is dropping as well)

 

Ford's cash is leveraged by debt. While cash is their life boat the debt could sink the ship.

 

Ford is in the best shape overall, they don't have any "goofy" programs eating up funds like GM and their OnStar. OnStar is a GM company so they're eating up funds like there's no tomorrow, and then IIRC they (GM) also have the most expensive union contract of the big three.

 

that is what bugs me the most, these people are going to let their company die and end up with NO job, all because they wont take a pay cut from their already way to high wages........that is just sick! if i were conges i would disban the UAW and tell the workers to work for $X or find a new job. but that is just me, and i might not (probably dont) know the whole story.

 

What I meant by Ford Chugging along was they are fine and not begging for money like GM and Chrysler have to do. Soon Chrysler and GM wont have money to pay suppliers. Ford has enough cash on hand to handle 2009. But they said they want the credit line incase the auto market doesnt come back.

Ford chops 2 lines and it spells doom for Mercury???? First off why have 3 CUV's in the line up? The new Flex and Edge are more popular than most other CUV's (at least in my area) I have never seen a Ford 500, or a Taurus X on the road and I am constanly on the road everyday and I notice cars. The only reason Ford brought back the Taurus nameplate was to help sales of the 500, since it was such a popular nameplate. But that didnt work, so why keep on putting money into something that wont sell?

Ford also was smart and sold off the Jaguar, Landrover and Aston Martin divisions before the bottom fell out of the auto market. They also dont have other programs or divisions bleeding the company dry like GM or Chrysler.

The next big step is to cut managments salaries and benifits and also go after the unions to cut payroll and benifits. Until someone deals with the UAW, no domestic company will survive.

 

And just in case you might wonder about how a UAW contract might look (Specifically Fords 2007 agreement) take a look at this

LaborPains.org Blog Archive 22 Pounds of UAW Rules and Regulations


http://www.unionfacts.com/ads/images...ence.large.jpg

 

According to the Detroit Free Press-freep.com (12/13/2008-article: What's ahead for the Detroit 3), Ford had 26.9 BILLION DOLLARS in cash and credit as of 9/30/2008.

GM may be the #1 sales company in the US, but when it comes to cash on hand, they are DEAD LAST!

GM says if it gets bailout money, it will eliminate four brands:

Hummer (for sale), SAAB (for sale), Saturn (for sale, if no one is interested, it will be dropped), and Pontiac which will be come a niche vehicle, sold by Buick/GMC dealers.

The same article says ChryCo only has enough cash on hand to make it thru March.

 

NumberDummy, you may get a kick out of this.

Ford Ad, 1930 - Western Neighborhoods Project - San Francisco History

 

Number you might be missing my point: given the sales figures posted, if that did not generate cash flow for GM for that month, it sure as heck didnt generate cash flow for ford. remember a post I made where I detailed what happens for each of the 3 if they go chapter anything - simply because they are not on equal footing. OF the 3, GM is the only one who truly has an option (however yucky) of doing a restructuring. Given that it is the only one still holding unleveraged publically held assets.

The banks who own all of fords assests can come a calling at any time if they feel this is not gonna turn around.

Someone mentioned onstar as being a drag and I dont know why. onstar is a nice cash cow AND it will be required for all cars sold in the US when OBD3 debuts

(sidebar: the lawmakers and EPA fixated on a not so publicized feature of onstar: phone home. OBD3 requires the diagnostic - not just monitoring - software to be on board - gone will be the days of handheld (GM) or console based (rotunda) testers. And in the event of a problem, not only can it self diagnose as well as a tech, but also suggest parts, and using the lojack, notify the driver of WHAT service bay to pull into based on location. And in the event of non-compliance - can satisfy the CARB-ish requirements to issue citations to owners who do not fix the car. The only delay for OBD3 (it will actually be a followon to CAN - OBD3 was the working name) is getting the makers to agree on the licensing agreement since none of the other makers are in the position to launch satellites)

furthermore consider this: should GM go under, and due to the complicated stock swap etc when they sold off the hughes business units, we americans will lose direct tv, xm/sirius, most long distance phones and almost all internet access. That should get your attention......

 

I doubt that GM will fail. I do believe with or without the bailout, GM will be forced sooner or later to declare bankruptcy.

btw: I don't have: Direct TV, xm/sirius, ipod, mpc player or whatever it's called...I have no use for this stuff. I do have a cell phone...I've prolly used it twice in the past year.

I also have no debt, haven't financed anything since 1974, because I don't buy a lot of frivilous crap I don't need, and have invested wisely.

As far as the internet is concerned, I got by without it for over 50 years, so I can find plenty of things to do if need be.

 

Ok, but what about the majority of businesses who now do e-business as the most popular (and profitable) form of sales?

should the maker of nearly 50% of the telecom vanish and all these browsers start getting '404' errors, will that be a good thing or bad thing for the US economy.

Or put it this way: how many reading have used the internet to purchase something not available in your town? If that ability went away, or was severely impugned what would happen to the 'store' (amazon.com comes to mind: 0 retail locations) who depends on the sales? what about Tire rack? what about FTE parts guy? (I pick on site sponsors on purpose)

The full cascading effect of GMs demise is not well considered.

 

I don't think OnStar is a cash cow. It's a subscription based service and you only get ONE year with the purchase of a vehicle. I know a LOT of people who opt to NOT renew it. Therefore it makes anything they do with it (even if they hit the button by mistake the operator has to say something as I understand it) cost GM money. The consumer is not paying for it, someone has to pay those wages, and it's a GM company.

 

Besides GM vehicles, all Lexus' have OnStar.

 

Okay. Fair enough, but only IF the Big 3 eliminate their EXTREMELY top heavy executive positions, structure the companies like the foreign car makers, and the CEOs all get the same salaries are the foreigns car makers. Then I can see the UAW more willing to lower wages to match the others.

[QUOTE=BradyCouchman;6876923] if i were conges i would disban the UAW. QUOTE]

The UAW can only be "disbanded" if the 3 file Chater 11.