| New Industry Emerging Around Electric Vehicles By Richard T. StuebiMuch has been written about the planned release by General Motors of the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. When GM launches the vehicle, now slated for late 2010, it expects to sell tens of thousands of them.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
The Next Chapter in Toyotagate Jesse Felder submits: I recently wrote a piece about how I believe Toyota is killing their brand with the way they handled the recent "unintended acceleration" issues and I have honestly been surprised by the company's defenders.For Toyota (TM) to know about this major issue and, in response, pursue a policy of "denying the problem exists, implying motorist error and simply hoping the issue will go away," is to send a clear message that they couldn't care less about customer safety.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
New GM Loses $4.3 Billion Zacks.com submits: The new General Motors, formed after emerging from bankruptcy on July 10, 2009 through the acquisition of substantially all the assets and certain liabilities of Motors Liquidation Company or old GM, lost $4.3 billion or $10.73 per share for the period July 10–December 31, 2009. The loss included a $2.6 billion pretax loss related to a United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s retiree healthcare program and $1.3 billion for foreign currency adjustments. The new GM's financial results were not comparable with the earlier periods as it reported under “fresh start accounting”. GM generated revenues of $57.5 billion during the period. The automaker sold 7.5 million vehicles in 2009 compared to 8.4 million vehicles in the previous year. Consequently, its global market share dipped to 11.6% from 12.4% in 2008. GM’s cash and marketable securities improved to $22.8 billion as of December 31, 2009 from $14.2 billion as of December 31, 2008. Total debt amounted to $15.8 billion, translating into a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 43%. During July 10–December 31, 2009, the company generated an operating cash flow of $1 billion. GM is on track to repay its outstanding $6.7 billion (13% of the $52 billion that U.S. taxpayers have invested in the company, mainly for a 61% ownership stake) in U.S. Treasury loans as well as the C$1.5 billion ($1.5 billion) in Export Development Canada loans, ahead of the scheduled maturity date of July 2015. As of March 2010, the company had paid $2.8 billion. GM plans to repay the rest by June at the latest. Post-bankruptcy, GM is primarily owned by the U.S. government and Canada government, and by a trust fund providing medical benefits to UAW retirees. Specifically, the U.S. government holds a 61% stake, the UAW union holds a 17.5% stake through its Retiree Medical Benefits Trust and the Canadian government holds 11.7%. The remaining shares went to the bondholders of the old company. The new GM retained the Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick core brands, along with most of its overseas operations. These brands will have a total of 34 U.S. nameplates by 2010. GM has lost $88 billion since 2005 as its debt rose to a staggering $54 billion. The company was forced to file for Chapter 11 when it failed to cope with the downturn in the U.S. economy and the credit crunch since the second half of 2008 that caused industry-wide sales to plunge.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Alaska Air Group, Inc. Q2 2010 Earnings Call Transcript Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK)Q2 2010 Earnings Call July 22, 2010 11:30 a.m. ETComplete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Airline Consolidation: Southwest and AirTran Merge Zacks.com submits: Southwest Airlines (LUV), the largest U.S. low-cost airline, has agreed to buy AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI) for a combination of cash and Southwest shares. The agreement conforms with the consolidation trend in the airline industry. This pending merger would be the third in the last two years following the oil price hike in 2008 and economic downturn in 2009. The trend was initiated with the first merger between Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Northwest in 2008. The second is the ongoing acquisition of Continental Airlines (CAL) by United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corp. (UAUA), scheduled for completion on October 1, 2010.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |