loans

Chrysler’s request for an additional $2 billion in government funded loans in its latest viability proposal looks trivial compared to the $16.6 billion requested by General Motors today in front of the U.S. Treasury. Without this funding GM says it could run out of money as early as next...

Building a foundation for the reconstruction of the industry, General Motors and Chrysler are required to submit new plans for viability today as part of the loan agreement established late last year. GM has yet to unveil their reworked plan, but Chrysler has just released the key details of its...

Detroit's carmakers are due to submit their latest viability plans to the government later today, but already a White House source has leaked that General Motors and Chrysler will both be getting new loan funds. GM's $4 billion loan and Chrysler's $3 billion will bring the total amount handed out...

The past several weeks have been tough ones for Nissan, facing the closure of its Michigan design studio, a forecast loss of $2.6 billion and the cutting of 20,000 jobs worldwide. Nevertheless it is still making plans for the future, and electric vehicles (EVs) figure heavily in those plans. To...

President Barack Obama today tied another string to the money received by GM and Chrysler, setting a cap of $500,000 on executive salaries for companies in receipt of taxpayer funds. The move is likely to prove popular with the public, which often perceives corporate executives as overpaid. The...

As the economy and the car industry transform to lighter, more compact versions of their previous selves, the primary agent of change is cash. Ford CEO Alan Mulally took an opportunity this weekend to re-affirm his company's ability to stand on its own, without government-backed loans, however...

The first $13.4 billion in auto industry loan funds have been disbursed to General Motors and Chrysler, but already Michigan's congressional representatives are seeking another $25 billion in industry loans. The funds would be targeted at suppliers and carmakers, with some funds set aside to help...

The $17.4 billion bridge loan package signed into action by President Bush late in December has begun disbursement, with General Motors receiving $4 billion earlier this month and now the second instalment of $5.4 billion as well. This additional funding comes at a crucial time for the General...

The UAW's near-stranglehold on the domestic auto industry has taken a lot of the blame for the current condition of the carmakers. Whether it's a fair conclusion or not, however, for companies like General Motors to survive, there will have to be concessions from labor and investors alike. Formal...

Late Friday evening Chrysler received its first $4 billion in government loan money from the $17.4 billion approved as an emergency measure late in December, pushing its bottom line closer to the $2.5-3 billion minimum it needs to remain in operation. Covering debts and meeting supplier payment...

The $17.4 billion bridge loan package signed into action by President Bush late in December has begun disbursement, with General Motors receiving $4 billion on Wednesday. Chrysler is still waiting on the finalization of details with the U.S. Treasury before it will be able to tap into the loans...

Yesterday the U.S. Treasury announced it would be backing GMAC with $6 billion in total funding, and today both the car finance company and General Motors, which gets 85% of its customer loans from GMAC, announced a wave of new incentives and programs to drive up sales. GMAC announced it would be...

When the automotive subsidiary of Indian mega-conglomerate Tata Motors took over Jaguar-Land Rover earlier this year, many feared for the brand's future. Since then, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has taken great pains to reassure fans of the two carmakers that all would be well. Yesterday it was...

The board of directors at General Motors has been actively involved in steering the company through regular board meetings and weekly conference calls, but the situations surrounding the bridge loans approved late last week by President Bush have led the company to amend its bylaws to make board...

Bankruptcy for one or more major carmakers as a solution to the current automotive downturn has been widely reviled as the worst possible alternative for the carmakers themselves and the industry, and economy, in general. But now the White House has revealed that a structured bankruptcy for General...

The $14 billion auto loan bill passed by the House late yesterday may stall out in the U.S. Senate under fire from Republican opposition. The GOP wants more concessions from the UAW and more concrete reforms by the carmakers before money is handed out, among other changes. A counter-proposal by...

The U.S. House of Representatives has just passed the $14 billion loan bill and it's now headed to the Senate, but that's not the end of the story. Lawmakers in Sweden have proposed their own aid package, totaling $3.4 billion for their country's auto industry. The primary players there are Saab...

Detroit's major auto manufacturers could soon find that three certainly is a crowd when it comes to the world automotive market. CSM Worldwide is predicting 2009 to be the worst year in U.S. automotive sales in over a quarter of a century, and that Chrysler will not make it through the storm...

If you listen to the CEOs and PR spin-doctors, bankruptcy has never been an option for America's carmakers, despite behind-the-scenes talk of 'Plan B' scenarios. It turns out that such aversion to bankruptcy isn't just head-in-the-sand reactionary behavior. If General Motors and Chrysler were to...

With the legislation for a loan package to secure the immediate futures of the Detroit 3 is reaching the 'discussion draft' stage today, talk of an overseer to administer the funds has begun. The bill actually stipulates that there may be multiple overseers, raising the possibility of an oversight...