2008 - Building the Cobalt

Here’s the official press release:

FISKER AUTOMOTIVE TO BUY U.S. ASSEMBLY PLANT TO BUILD AFFORDABLE PLUG-IN HYBRID CARS

The company was created in 2007 to leverage the design capabilities of Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, founded by auto design veterans Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, and the PHEV powertrain capabilities of Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ-QTWW), a major Tier 1 supplier of clean vehicle technologies to the automotive OEMs. Previously, Fisker, CEO, was design director for Aston Martin and president and CEO of BMW’s DesignworksUSA. Koehler, COO, led operations for Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio and created concept cars for Aston Martin, MINI and BMW.

WASHINGTON–Warning that they can’t depend on unending taxpayer dollars, President Barack Obama on Monday gave General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC a brief window to craft plans that would justify fresh government loans.

DETROIT IN CRISIS: The ouster of Rick Wagoner, shown at a February news conference, is a milestone in the state’s intervention in the economy.

“We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish,” President Obama said at the White House.

“What we are asking is difficult,” he said. “It will require hard choices by companies. It will require unions and workers who have already made painful concessions to make even more. It will require creditors to recognize that they cannot hold out for the prospect of endless government bailouts.”

The remarks come a day after the administration ousted GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and rejected the restructuring plans that GM and Chrysler had hoped would lead to another infusion of government cash. Instead, the White House is giving GM 60 days to come up with a strategy for viability. Chrysler has a month to wrap up a partnership with Italy’s Fiat SpA.

GM is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday morning to respond to the White House’s rejection of its restructuring plan, a person familiar with the plans said Monday.

The administration says a “surgical” structured bankruptcy may be the only way forward for GM and Chrysler, and President Obama held out that prospect Monday.

“I know that when people even hear the word ‘bankruptcy,’ it can be a bit unsettling, so let me explain what I mean,” he said. “What I am talking about is using our existing legal structure as a tool that, with the backing of the U.S. government, can make it easier for General Motors and Chrysler to quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so they can get back on their feet and onto a path to success; a tool that we can use, even as workers are staying on the job building cars that are being sold.”

The firms, hobbled by the economic downturn and years of reliance on sport-utility vehicles, will receive an unspecified amount of working capital from the government while they hone their new plans.

Without a Fiat deal, the administration said Chrysler won’t receive any more taxpayer dollars. The administration expressed confidence GM can survive with more drastic action. Toward that end, Chief Operating Officer Frederick “Fritz” Henderson will succeed Mr. Wagoner.

GM and Chrysler received a total of $17.4 billion in government loans in December and have requested another $22 billion to keep them going through this year. President Obama’s auto task force combed through the firms’ restructuring plans to judge if they merit the additional funds. The verdict released Sunday is that in their current form, the plans don’t justify any new taxpayer resources.

General Motors Corp. said in a government filing Thursday that its accounting firm has found there is “substantial doubt” about the automaker’s ability to survive.

The embattled automaker made the disclosure in a 480-page filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

GM has sustained large and continuing losses, while saying it needs additional federal loans to remain in business. Thursday’s statement from the company’s auditors presents another hurdle the automaker will have to clear as it makes the case that it deserve additional taxpayer support going forward.

The Obama administration, under the terms of the $13.4 billion in federal loans GM has already requested, must determine that the company’s plans make it viable in the long run.

The government must determine that GM has a “positive net present value” or else demand repayment of the loans within 30 days – a development that would almost certainly plunge the company into bankruptcy and quite possibly force it out of business.

But the government has wide latitude in how it judges the company’s net present value, based on assumptions it makes about future sales, car prices and costs for the company going forward. The administration clearly does not want to force the largest U.S. automaker into bankruptcy.

The GM filing disclosed that the Treasury already agreed to waive requirements that the automaker meet certain terms of the original loan agreement, including that it win agreement with creditors to convert two-thirds of its unsecured debt to equity by Feb. 17.

But even if the Obama administration continues to give support to GM (GM, Fortune 500) and rival Chrysler LLC, which has also received federal loans, Thursday’s filing could create problems in its relations with suppliers and banks.

For example, concerns about GM’s future could cause companies that supply it with parts start to demand cash on delivery from the cash-starved automaker, according to GM’s filing.

While parts makers would be reluctant to damage their largest customer with such a demand, they may have no choice because of GM’s filing. Those parts makers’ own auditors and banks could use the doubts raised by GM’s auditors to raise questions about their own future.

Privately held Chrysler does not have to file a year-end financial statement with the SEC. Last week,Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) said its auditors have not substantial doubt about its future. Ford went into this auto crisis with a much stronger cash position than GM or Chrysler.

GM said Thursday auto sales, which have plunged more than 40% in recent months, must rebound by next year if it is to survive.

Meantime, GM also said it needs additional federal loans to stay in business.

GM received $13.4 billion so far, and it has asked for up to $16.6 billion more. In addition, it is seeking $7.7 billion in loans to convert production from light trucks to more fuel efficient cars under an Energy Department loan program.

“The failure to obtain sufficient funding from the U.S. government or governments outside the United States may require us to shrink or terminate operations or seek reorganization for certain subsidiaries outside the United States,” the filing said.

“If we fail to obtain sufficient funding for any reason, we would not be able to continue as a going concern and could potentially be forced to seek relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code,” GM added.

GM’s stock was 12% lower in premarket trading.

From DETROIT FREE PRESS -

Famed auto executive Bob Lutz, General Motors Corp. vice chairman of global product development, will retire at the end of 2009, the automaker announced this morning.

Lutz, 76, will transition into a new role effective April 1 as vice chairman and senior adviser, providing strategic input into the automaker’s global design and key product initiatives until his retirement.

Tom Stephens, currently executive vice president of global powertrain and global quality, will become vice chairman of global product development effective April 1.

Lutz is credited with breathing new life into GM’s vehicle design, championing such projects as the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS. He also has been big behind GM’s Chevrolet Volt, an electric-drive vehicle that’s slated to hit the market late next year.

Lutz joined GM in 2001. He had already made a name for himself at Chrysler Corp., where he worked from 1986 to 1998, reaching the role of vice chairman. He also had served as president and chief operating officer responsible for Chrysler’s car and truck operations. He also spent 12 years at Ford Motor Co.

“Bob Lutz was already a legendary automotive product guy when he rejoined GM in 2001 and he’s added to that by leading the creation of a string of award-winning vehicles for GM during his time here,” Rick Wagoner, company chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

He’s enraged environmentalists with his public comments, saying as recent as last year that global warming a “total crock of” (expletive).

“My thoughts on what has or hasn’t been the cause of climate change have nothing to do with the decisions I make to advance the cause of General Motors,” Lutz later wrote on GM’s FastLane blog last February in defense of himself.

“The point is not why and how did we get where we are, it’s what are we going to do to get where we’re going. And I think that many of the people who’ve been spewing their virtual vitriol in my direction in the past week are guilty of taking the easy way out.”

Game 1 – Come Out Swinging

General Motors not only wants to take over Chrysler, but they want to dissolve many similar models in the Chrysler and Dodge line up. So, once the new GMC SUV comes out, that means no more Dodge Durango, and maybe the slashing of Chrysler’s still fresh Challenger neo-muscle car. This is a bold move for an automotive company – they risk being accused of forming a monopoly, while simultaneously striking out any of their heavy competition.

Game 2 – Cutting Jobs? Your Loss GM

General Motors loses the second round of their World Series event by swinging outside the box. But who didn’t see this coming, with any merger someone is going to lose their job. Today, Chrysler, after hearing dealing with all this alleged buy out talk, has reported they will cut over 1800 jobs at two assembly plants by the end of 2008. America’s struggling economy, watching over like MLB’s chairman does over each game, isn’t helping – have you seen the stock market lately? No company should be buying anyone out, yet we’re not surprised about job cuts.

Game 3 – Come Out Swinging

GM will become a huge automotive power with all brands these together under one roof – making them a monolithic American automotive company. With Chevy, Chrysler, GMC, Jeep, Buick, Hyundai and so on, GM stands to make a profit (or at least get out of red) no matter which sells more…unless everyone keeps buying Toyota’s and Nissan’s. America’s government is also intervening, making sure the deal is done clean, and that jobs (both salary and hourly) would be saved. Those who lose their positions could enter different positions within this new company, or be placed into job training programs.

Game 4 – On Hold

Though GM is still fighting like mad to take over Chrysler, this game is on hold. It’s a back and forth struggle that will probably cross over into 2009. Regardless, like 2008′s World Series, no type of delay can put it on hold for long. Eventually, we’ll be seeing closings of more Chrysler Dodge dealerships then we’d like to admit on this site.