just another little somthing that points in a direction
[Sources: Bloomberg, Barron's, Wall St. Journal, Detroit
News]
GM NEEDS RADICAL STEPS TO SURVIVE, SAY "BUSINESS LEADERS." "Without some radical surgery, it may be in an irreversible downward spiral, said Robert S. Miller, Jr., the former Chrysler vice-chairman who now runs parts-maker Federal-Mogul. Former AMR/American Airlines chief Robert Crandall spelled it out: "Unless General Motors changes, somehow gets rid of its health-care obligations and pension obligations, it cannot continue." The company plans to slash its white-collar workforce by up to 28% in some sectors, and will seek health-care concessions from the UAW. Chrysler has already negotiated an amendment with the Auto Workers that for the first time allows the company to charge annual health-care deductibles from $100 to $1,000. Health-care costs are said to add $1,525 to every GM car, and GM earns only $290 per vehicle in North America, compared to about $2,000 for Toyota.
Barron's suggests a number of actions for GM, beginning with cutting its $2 per share annual stock dividend by 75%, and slashing management salaries and temporarily ending bonuses. It also suggests seeking further concessions from suppliers, and asking GM dealers to surrender some of their own profits. Then ask for immediate concessions on health-care and layoff-pay rules.
GM has already killed a new line (dubbed "Zeta") of rear-wheel drive cars slated for 2008, saying the premium line could not be produced at the quality level desired, while remaining price-co
