GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz Kisses a Saturn Astra. Recently he kissed-goodbye to all his stock in the company.

In a move that should probably be illegal (but isn’t) six General Motors executives recently sold off all their shares in the company. That’s right, those same guys who helped drive GM into bankruptcy traded in all their stocks when a trading window opened.

The move signifies that GM will most likely file for Chapter 11 and while it does seem unjust that these executives are permitted to jump ship, smart investors will see this as a sign. (You know what they say when the rats start to leave a ship).

GM’s Vice Chairman Bob Lutz (pictured above) sold off all of is 81,360 shares at $1.61 each, cashing in on $130, 969.60. The North American President of GM, Troy Clarke, dumped his 21,380 shares for just $1.45 each for a total of $31,001.

The remaining executives involved in the sell-off were VP Thomas Stephens, as well as Group VPs Gary Cowger, Carl-Peter Forster and Ralph Szygenda.

The move prompted the stocks to continue their slide, dropping 17 cents (or 11 percent) to just $1.44 by days end. In the past year GM’s stock value has declined by 92 percent.

General Motors is facing a June 1st restructuring deadline by the Obama administration or else the federal government will pull the funding plug on the automaker. As it stands a bankruptcy scenario seems unavoidable.

[Source: Bloomberg]

It’s not exactly the sort of news worthy of a celebration, but some cautious optimism is certainly appropriate as word comes that the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky might not suffer the same fate as almost every other fun vehicle under the General Motors umbrella.

Fritz Henderson, GM’s new CEO said that the company would be willing to part with the plant where the two sports cars are assembled. The Wilmington, Del. plant is also the location where GM manufactures the Opel GT – a European version of the car.

“If someone were to approach with a proposal that made good sense for our people, we’d be open to it,” Henderson said.

Both the Solstice and Sky were introduced in 2006 as front-engine, rear-wheel drive roadsters. The models come standard with a 173hp four-cylinder, with a turbocharged 260-hp four-cylinder optional.

General Motors is still intent on selling off the Saturn brand and scuttling the Pontiac nameplate, however, it won’t rule out selling the Wilmington facility as there is likely to be some interest in the niche-market vehicles.

Last year GM moved close to 20,000 units of the two American models, with the Solstice selling 10,739 units and the Sky 9,162 units.

The move is similar to the one made by Chrysler in regards to the Dodge Viper. Chrysler has yet to find a buyer for that iconic nameplate.

[Source: AutoWeek]

General Motors has once again posted a massive quarterly loss, coming up short to the tune of $6 billion for Q1 of ’09. That is roughly the equivalent of the value of 473,000 Chevy Aveos.

The company burned through $10.2 billion during the period, lowering its cash reserves to $11.6 billion from $14.2 billion at the end of ’08. The difference was made up by loans from the Federal Government which amounted to $13.2 billion.

General Motors has now posted seven straight quarterly losses and in total has dropped into the red on an annual basis since 2004 – for a staggering total loss of $84 billion. For those keeping score that amounts to a loss roughly equivalent to the value of 1.3 million Escalades.

Naturally, North America accounted for the largest amount of the total loss with $3.2 billion in that region, while the smaller European market still posted a significant decline of $2 billion.

In Asia GM posted a relatively small $21 million loss, compared to a profit of $310 million the year earlier.

The only region to manage a profit was the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, with $16 million in profits compared to $500 million in profits  in Q1 of ’08.

The news continued to batter GM’s stock as shares dropped 10.3 percent yesterday to just $1.66. Those numbers are, however, somewhat irrelevant now as GM plans to offer up to 60 billion new shares in a reverse stock split that would help the company pay off its debt. That move would reduce GM’s stock value to less than 2 cents.

The only positive news out of Q1 is that the company’s efforts to reduce production have resulted in a decreased inventory of 105,000 vehicles, for a total of 767,000 vehicles.

Still with a June 1st bankruptcy deadline looming Chapter 11 is looking like a given.

[Source: Automotive News]

The sale of Saturn to Nissan-Renault could see cars like this Mégane Renault Sport roaming U.S. streets.

The rumor mill keeps churning out new and exciting candidates interested in buying GM’s Saturn brand. The most recent speculation is that Nissan/Renault might be interested.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the Nissan-Renault interest in Saturn, while Bloomberg says that company may team up with the Penske Automotive Group (rumored yesterday to be an interested party) to take over the brand.

With Nissan struggling worldwide the thought of such a buy seems unlikely and yet it may pave the way for Renault to bring its lineup of fuel-efficient compact cars to North America. Currently the Saturn brand has 400 dealerships in the United States and Canada that could be used to distribute Renault products like the Clio and Megane… or even performance versions like the 250hp 2.0-liter turbocharged Mégane R.S. (shown above).

While French vehicle might not normally be attractive to North American consumers, the Renault brand has a strong awareness with younger consumers due to the Gran Turismo video game series.

Under the latest General Motors viability plan, Saturn is scheduled to be sold by the end of the year.Currently GM says that is has several offers, the most recently publicized ones being from Penske Automotive Group and Telesto Ventures, which would transform the Saturn dealership network into a retail chain selling several brands of foreign-made cars.

[Source: AutomotiveNews]

Roger Penske and Daimler Chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche take a ride in a SMART car. Penske currently distributes SMART cars for Diamler in the U.S. and is rumored to be interested in purchasing Saturn from GM.

A day after General Motors released a vague statement declaring that it is moving to “the next step” in the sale of the Saturn brand it appears as though Roger Penske is one of the interested buyers.

Penske, a former race car driver and now the man at the top of an automotive empire is no stranger to the business, owning numerous dealerships. In fact, Penske’s dealership chain is listed as the second largest in the United States, accounting for 171,872 vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2008.

The Penske dealership network is not immune to the current economic climate, with Q1 profits down roughly 50 percent from the year previous. Still, the company managed a 16.2 million profit.

The Penske Automotive Group even distributes the SMART car for Mercedes/Daimler throughout the United States.

Currently Penske oversees three major racing initiatives in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the Indy Racing League (IRL). He is also a well-known supporter of the city of Detroit and the U.S. auto industry, having helped bring the racing back to Detroit’s Belle Isle in recent years as well as assisting in bringing the Superbowl to the struggling city.

The Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed source in regards to Penske’s interest. The individual said that while Penske is interested, no offer has been made.

[Source: Automotive News]

[Photo Credit: TheAutoChanel]

As we reported last week, General Motors has indeed made the decision to kill the Pontiac brand. The news comes as a part of a new viability plan (yes… another one) submitted to the federal government today.

The new plan will see Pontiac eliminated by the end of 2010, but that’s not all… not by a long shot. Also included in the new proposal is a long list of drastic and sweeping changes that General Motors says are much needed in order to stay in business. Among the list of big changes is the fast-track dissolution of Saturn. Originally scheduled to be dismantled by the end of 2010, the plan now states that the niche brand will be eliminated by the end of this year.

Also on the chopping block are half of all current U.S. General Motors dealerships. Not surprisingly, GM’s previous viability plan wasn’t pessimistic enough, calling for 34 percent of the current 6,246 dealerships to close. That number is now a solid 50 percent.

Other major cuts include the closing of three plants and the loss of 7,000 more hourly workers. This would put the number of hourly workers at 40,000 – 7,000 less than the last viability plan said there would be and 21,000 less than there were in 2008.

In total GM will cut 14 models from its lineup, with just 34 different vehicles being offered in 2010.

Most importantly, however, is that General Motors will offer current debt holders stock in order to reduce the company’s debt. But if too few debt holders cash in, then GM will go bankrupt. And that is looking quite likely as GM says it needs approximately 90 percent of its unsecured debt covered or else it believe the U.S. Treasury will not see the company as viable.

General Motors still faces the likelihood of filing for Chapter 11 but in the mean time it will run with its new viability plan and concentrate on its core brands: Chevy, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. With just over a month to go before the Obama Administration’s June 1st deadline, however, nothing is really certain. Maybe there will be another viability plan? Maybe more will be cut…

[Source: Automotive News]

Several major news outlets are reporting that General Motors is planning extended shutdowns of its U.S. plants this summer. The plants would be idled for as much as nine weeks from mid-May through July.

While it is common practice for plants to idle for a “summer break” during the sunny season, that period has traditionally only been two weeks and not the two months that General Motors is planning.

The move is considered a necessity as the struggling automaker suffered a sales decline of 49 percent in March and currently has a stockpile of vehicles that can last 122 days.

A representative of the United Auto Workers union told the Associated Press that plan managers will be meeting with the union today and tomorrow to discuss production changes and some plants.

There is no word on if the extended shutdowns would apply to GM’s other North American facilities.

[Source: Automotive News]

A group of investors known as Telesto Ventures has put forward a serious proposal to purchase Saturn from General Motors and turn it into a network of retailers selling vehicles from foreign manufactures.

The business plan would have the Saturn continue selling GM-sourced products until 2011 at which point the dealer network would act more like a chain of retail stores, selling different economical and environmentally-friendly vehicles that would keep their distinct brand names.

John Pappanastos, a spokesman for Telesto, a group which includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC, described the business model as being similar to the Best Buy electronics chain. “Customers deal with Best Buy because of the customer experience not because they are the only place to buy a Samsung or a Sony TV,” he said.

As that statement implied, the Telesto business model would permit these vehicles to be sold by other retailers as well.

Currently Pappanastos says Telesto is in talks with several foreign manufacturers.

As far fetched and unconventional as the proposal sounds, Telesto is quite serious and General Motors generally interested. GM spokesman Steve Janisse described the proposal as “very interesting and told Automotive News that, “I can tell you this is one of the interested parties with Saturn and we have been working with them throughout this process. There are other interested parties as well who we’re working with. But I can’t speculate on where all this will go.”

This news comes at a particularly interesting time as today a Saturn task force was scheduled to present a select group of Saturn dealers will a proposal to spin Saturn off as a separate company.

[Source: Automotive News]

Just ahead of the Obama Administration’s press conference today, some of the most important details are already out.

General Motors is to be given 60 more days to complete its restructuring plan, while Chrysler is being given just 30 days to finalize a partnership with Fiat.

This news comes as both fumbling U.S. automakers are set to fail to meet the March 31st restructuring deadline that the Bush administration gave as a qualification for the initial bailout funds.

Both automakers will be given additional funds to ride out the recession until the given deadlines. Chrysler requires $2 billion by tomorrow in order to avoid cash flow issues, while GM is looking at an additional $2 billion to keep itself afloat through April.

Both deadlines comes after the Obama administration’s Auto Task Force determined that the current restructuring efforts by both General Motors and Chrysler would not make either company viable even if the economy improved.

If the two American car manufacturers cannot meet the deadlines laid out by the Obama administration, the cash flow will be halted and the companies will be forced into bankruptcy.

[Source: Automotive News]

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will be stepping down as the head of the deeply troubled American auto giant by the end of the month – this according to several reports including CNBC and GMInsideNews.

Wagoner apparently did not come to the decision on his own and while he was not “forced” he was apparently asked to abdicate the General Motors throne by senior White House officials. GM’s Vice President, Fritz Henderson is expected to take over the helm of the company (We don’t envy him).

Wagoner took up the position of CFO at GM in 1992, becoming executive vice president in 1994. In 2000 he continued to move up the corporate ladder, taking a new position as president and chief operating officer, adding chairman to that long list of titles in 2003.

During Wagoner’s reign, GM’s shares have taken a catastrophic hit, dropping from a high of $60 to a low of $1.27 – a loss of roughly 98 percent.

[Source: GMinsideNews]