#ViabilityPlan

Earlier this week General Motors produced its last Pontiac for the U.S. market, ending the brand’s 82 year run. The final vehicle to roll off the assembly line at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25th at the Orion Township plant was a rather unspectacular white G6 sedan which is scheduled to be sold to a fleet. It’s hardly the sort of send-off one might expect for a brand that has produced such memorable legends as the GTO and Firebird.

In a surprising move, a potential buyer for Saab has been found from the company’s home country. Nope… note Swedish automaker Volvo, but Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg.

A day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, General Motors has announced it has found a buyer for its Hummer brand of SUVs. GM has not, however, named the party.

According to the reliable folks over at GMInsideNews, on Monday the Obama Administration will announce a bankruptcy deadline for both General Motors and Chrysler. 

General Motors has announced that it is putting a hold on a plan to bring a new 4.5-liter V8 diesel engine to market. The new engine would have been used in the light-duty Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks and estimates have it rated at anywhere from the mid-20s to the high-20s in miles per gallon. This would even be a significant improvement over GM’s current Silverado and Sierra hybrids, which get 21 mpg city and 22 highway.

General Motors has just announced that it’s European operations, including brands Opel and Vauxhall will split-off from GM.

General Motors has just released its fourth quarter “earnings” and they are anything but. GM posted a net loss of $9.6 billion, with an operating loss of $5.9 billion.

After Saab’s request for “reorganization” was approved by a Swedish court today, the carmaker has announced that it will look to restructure itself as an independent entity.

This move is the first step in a process that would allow Saab to restructure itself and renegotiate terms with creditors. This, after Saab said it estimates a loss of $340 million last year and expects a similar loss for 2009.

“We explored and will continue to explore all available options for funding and/or selling Saab,” said Managing Director Jan-Ake Jonsson. “It was determined a formal reorganization would be the best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment.”

The move comes after General Motors announced in its viability plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury that it would not cover further losses at Saab, but that it would assist financially in the reorganization process. A request to the Swedish government, asking it to take over Saab was also rejected.

General Motors has put forth a “substantial” amount of money to help Saab and has asked the Swedish government for loan guarantees of $600 million to keep Saab afloat. GM has also agreed to help with development and tooling costs of the new 9-5,94x and 9-3x which are scheduled for launch in the next 18 months.

Saab has also applied for 500 million euros from the European Investment Bank and is looking for private investors.

The independent Saab would be centralized in Sweden with design, engineering and manufacturing all taking place in that country.

Saab, which currently employs 4,000 people in Sweden, was sold, in part, to General Motors in 1990, with GM taking full control in 2000. Since the purchase the Swedish automaker has only turned a profit once.

[Source: AutoNews]

Official Saab Release After the jump:

As a part of GM’s restructuring plan the company has made the drastic decision to “temporarily” close its High Performance Vehicle Operations department.

After General Motors made it clear in its viability report submitted to the U.S. Treasury that the future of Saturn was uncertain at bes t, it appears as though Saturn’s network of dealers has its own plan.

After a flip through GM’s 117 page Viability Plan, submitted yesterday to the U.S. Government, we came across one little surprise. That’s right, the Cadillac CTS, listed in the “Future Product Launches” appendix.