Saab has used GMs distribution network in China with limited success and may need to rely on co-investor Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. to gain customers in the worlds largest car market, said Christian von Koenigsegg, founder of Koenigsegg Automotive AB, which is leading a group of investors in a takeover of Trollhaettan-based Saab.
Saab plans to become profitable by 2012 with annual sales of about 100,000 cars, von Koenigsegg said. The executive said he doesnt expect GM to impose restrictions on Saabs sales in China similar - - - - >

Negotiations with buyout firm RHJ International SA and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. are under way and may lead to the signing of non-binding memoranda of understanding, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
Talks between GM and Magna, which was chosen by Germany as the preferred bidder for Opel, are being slowed by disagreements over the use of GMs technology and engineering designs, people familiar with the talks have said. The dispute has renewed interest in bids from Beijing - - - - >

“Blue” is only a small blip in automotive history, but it tells a big part of the story about why Detroit automakers are in a mess so critical they could be only months away from bankruptcy.
Democratic leaders in Congress asked the Bush administration on Saturday to provide more aid to the struggling auto industry, which is bleeding cash and jobs as sales have dropped to their lowest level in a quarter-century.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the administration should consider expanding the $700 billion bailout to - - - - >

“Its really an unsustainably weak level for all manufacturers,” said Mike DiGiovanni, GMs executive director of global market and industry analysis. “This is clearly a severe, severe recession for the U.S. automotive industry and something we really cant sustain.”
The annual sales rate in October 2007 was 16.1 million.
Chryslers sales tumbled 35 percent and Fords dropped 30 percent. Toyotas sales fell 23 percent despite its zero-percent financing offer, and Nissan and Honda posted 33 percent and 25 percent declines, respectively.
Overall, General Motors Corp. sold 168,719 vehicles in October, while Ford Motor Co., including its Volvo brand, sold 132,278 light vehicles and - - - - >

“A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sectors work force,” they wrote. “The economic downturn and the crisis in our financial markets further imperiled our domestic automobile industry and its work force.”
There was no immediate comment from the Bush administration about the request to broaden the $700 billion financial industry bailout so automakers could get a share.
Automakers already want an additional $50 billion in loans from Congress to help them survive tough economic conditions and pay for health care obligations for - - - - >

The company who teased America with the EV-1 electric sports car, and then took them back from buyers only to crush them into metal scraps is claiming it won’t go bankrupt. It is also notable that GM helped to ruin the workers paradise that was our mid 20th century mass transit rail system.
GM, which has slashed jobs and closed plants since early in the decade, has warned that it could run low on cash by the end of the year unless it gets a taxpayer-funded rescue from the government.
“The board has a responsibility to keep all options open considering the - - - - >

That has forced suppliers to burn through their cash reserves and slash their costs to stay in business, said Craig Fitzgerald, an automotive analyst with Southfield, Mich.-based Plante & Moran PLLP, which advises about 400 small and midsize auto suppliers.
Meanwhile, banks and other credit providers have become dead-set against lending to any company in the faltering automotive industry, making it difficult and expensive for suppliers to get needed financing.
But if the companies at the bottom of the supply chain dont find a way to recapitalize, Fitzgerald warned, numerous bankruptcies and liquidations among the small companies will set off a string - - - - >

Magnas results come a day after automakers reported their October U.S. sales that fell a combined 32 percent from a year ago to the lowest total in more than 17 years.
Aurora, Ontario-based Magna isnt the only auto supplier hurting because of vehicle production declines. Tenneco Inc., American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Corp., TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Visteon Corp. and Lear Corp. have all reported quarterly losses in recent weeks.
Magnas loss amounted to $1.93 per share for the three months ended Sept. 30. It had earned $155 million, or $1.38 per share, in the same quarter in 2007.
The latest results included - - - - >

A stunt so dangerous that you could not call it a sport, car surfing is a concept inspired by the “ghost riding” trend seen around the summer of 2007. The latest evolution is not merely jumping out of your car while it is set to drive and then running around it, the new way is to stand on top while it is moving.
Ghostriding reached its pinnacle as videos surfaced of enthusiasts running themselves over, hopefully car surfing does not attain popularity.
Thrill-seeking young adults who went “car surfing” were involved in 99 injuries, including 58 fatalities, during an 18- year period, - - - - >

General Motors had a heavy hand in destroying the electric rail system that covered the United States. It was the crown jewel of America that they shattered, a smog free workers paradise with trollies we have no more. For that general motors should be destroyed and their executives hunted down like the animals they are. GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said the company will “take every action” possible to avoid bankruptcy.
“Were convinced that the consequences of bankruptcy would be dire,” he said, adding that the company would use every source of potential funding. “We need to find a way - - - - >