A Look at the Autos on the Chopping Block

A Look at the Autos on the Chopping Block
1/16/2009 (Video MarketWatch)
Detroit's Big Three automakers are looking to downsize. WSJ's John Stoll talks about some of the brands that might be sold or scrapped, including the Hummer.

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian Sells Remaining Stake in Ford

Billionaire Kerkorian Sells Remaining Stake in Ford

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has sold his remaining stake in Ford Motor after betting over $1 billion in a rebound by the auto maker.
Kerkorian's pullout from Ford completed a costly retreat for the activist investor, who has a mixed track record with investments at all three Detroit-based automakers.
A spokesman for Ford could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kerkorian, 91, previously held a nearly 10-percent stake in General Motors [GM 3.59 -0.07 (-1.91%) ] and made a failed bid for Chrysler last year.

Kirk Kerkorian is one of the 400 richest Amerucans.
Last year's biggest gainer is one of this year's biggest losers. Slumping casino industry has pushed his 52% stake in gambling giant MGM Mirage—worth $14 billion in October—to a mere $5 billion. Company's stock fell 65% between October and June, volatile since. Another poorly performing investment: Ford. Tracinda Corporation is Kerkorian's Investment vehicle.

GM wants to sell, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and possibly Saturn

General Motors Corp. is studying possible elimination of some of its brands, with options including Pontiac, Hummer and Saab, the Free Press has learned.
A person familiar with the company's deliberations told the Free Press that all options are being considered as executives look at potential savings and devise a plan to submit to Congress in GM's bid for government loans to help it through a cash crisis.
In addition to the storied Pontiac brand, Hummer and Saab, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the review included the Saturn brand.

Solar company announces bid for General Motors subsidiary Opel

Solar company announces bid for General Motors subsidiary Opel
Christoph Hammerschmidt
EE Times Europe (11/19/2008 9:34 AM EST)
MUNICH, Germany — In the wake of the financial crisis, General Motors is in trouble and so is its German subsidiary Adam Opel AG, one of Europe's largest car makers. Now photovoltaics vendor Solarworld AG (Bonn, Germany) has submitted a takeover bid for Opel. Solarworld intends to create the first "green" automotive OEM.
Solarworld has contacted General Motors with the surprising offer to take over Opel's four German factories plus its design center, based in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt. The PV system vendor offers to pay for the acquisition the sum of € 250 million (about $315 million) plus bank lines of € 750 million. Beneficiary of the sum would be Opel. Solarworld CEO Frank Asbeck said he intends to develop Opel as the first truly "green" European car maker.

Chinese car makers SAIC And Dongfeng Intend To Buy GM.

By Bertel Schmitt (the Truth about Cars blog)
November 19, 2008
The story that Chinese SAIC and Dongfeng are thinking (aloud) about buying GM or Chrysler, or maybe both, created a firestorm on both sides of the no longer so Pacific Ocean. Just in case someone still thinks it’s a fluke, the Chinese media is chockablock full with the story. It’s all in (duh) Chinese, but trust us: From mass-outlets like Sina.com all the way to the government-owned Autoinfo.gov.cn, their headlines shout (in Chinese: ) “SAIC and Dongfeng intend to buy GM.” As far as more substance to the story goes, there’s nothing to report.

China Daily - Facing a daunting job to survive, the Big Three automakers have gone to Washington DC to beg for emergency federal aid, as the economic crisis is churning more wildly to take its toll..

American car makers . On the edge

American carmakers. On the edge
Nov 13th 2008
From The Economist print edition
After the bank bail-out, it is now Detroit’s carmakers who are pleading for help

IF NOTHING else, the revelation by General Motors (GM) on November 7th that it is in danger of running out of cash before the end of the year has concentrated minds. The reaction within the embattled car industry, and in Washington, DC, has been the same: we knew it was bad, but we did not know it was that bad. Ford is in a similar position, although its cash should hold out for a few months longer.
As for Chrysler, the smallest and weakest of Detroit’s Big Three, the precise state of its finances are harder to gauge because it is privately held. But the increasingly desperate attempts by Cerberus Capital Management, the private-equity firm that owns 80% of Chrysler, to offload some or all of it to another carmaker (GM said on November 7th that it had walked away from such a deal) suggest that its future as an independent entity is all but over.