After approving a $1.6 billion loan guarantee for PSA’s captive finance arm, the European Commission demanded a restructuring plan for all of PSA within six months.
Category: High Finance
The S-Class Mercedes has been the default choice for the global taste-and-wealth set for a very long time, probably since the demise of the Elwood Engel Continental. The 7-Series BMW, by contrast, has always been a slightly embarrassing purchase, the choice of the man cut out from the classy club by birth, ignorance, or a slightly unseemly insistence on driving dynamics. BMW is the striver’s brand, launched into the spotlight by a man who was sort of the Nadia Comaneci of sweaty social climbing. Mercedes is the real thing. Hasn’t it ever been thus?
German investors, on the other hand, seem to like the Roundel.
Suzuki’s death rattle continues unabated as the company’s American distribution arm will receive $100 million in financing, half of which is earmarked to purchase inventory from parent company Suzuki Motor Corp.
In the end, the money that towns across America gave General Motors did not matter… G.M. walked away and, thanks to a federal bailout, is once again profitable. The towns have not been so fortunate, having spent scarce funds in exchange for thousands of jobs that no longer exist.
The government of Ontario is calling on the Canadian government to sell off its shares in GM, obtained as part of a bailout package for the automaker in 2009.
Bailed-out GM agreed to pay about $4.2 billion for the European and Latin American operations of likewise bailed-out Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC. Read More >
Tesla recorded a third-quarter loss of $110.8 million, versus a $65.1 million loss in the third-quarter of 2011.
GM delivered its October surprise by posting what Reuters calls “a surprisingly strong profit.” In a bit of a hail Mary pass, GM said it is targeting a return to break-even levels in Europe by mid-decade. Read More >
Shaking off a $468 million loss in Europe, Ford reports better-than-expected profits for the third quarter. Read More >
GM wants to double its $5 billion revolving credit line. However, the junk credit rated company does not want to pay junk credit interest for it. “We think we can get it priced as if we’re investment grade, which is kind of one of our goals going into 2013, to achieve investment grade,” GM CEO Dan Akerson told Bloomberg yesterday in Sao Paulo.
How does the French government save an ailing car maker that employs thousands of people without actually bailing out the auto maker? By baling out their finance unit, of course!
The Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, was initiated as a way to get retiree healthcare costs off the books of Detroit’s auto makers. While VEBA makes balance sheets look better, they are still an exorbitant legacy costs for the Big Three, and things are about to get a lot worse.
GM’s stock is still considered a “Buy” in the eyes of much of Wall Street, but analysts say that more changes are needed to accelerate the pace of growth in the post-Bailout era.















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