Word: gm
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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General Motors is 100 years old this year, but its chances of reaching 101 as an independent company seem to be diminishing. GM is running out of cash and ideas and pursuing merger talks with Chrysler, which is also talking to Nissan. Ford Motor Co. this year celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Model T, an invention that significantly altered almost every aspect of American life from shopping to sex. But Americans are doing demonstrably less of the former when it comes to cars. Sales are braking quickly, and this month are expected to be at their lowest level...
Terrible sales, however, are only one part of the many difficulties that have engulfed American carmakers. GM, Ford and Chrysler, are also facing monumental financial challenges that have left them with poor credit ratings, making it prohibitively expensive to raise cash to finance auto sales...
...demand side--where we all live. Across America, there is growing evidence that demand for credit--and everything else--is shrinking, with recessionary consequences. Two days after the Washington drama, the Fed's Beige Book report revealed that business was weakening everywhere, prompting the Dow to regurgitate 700 points. GM is shutting plants earlier than anticipated, idling 2,800 workers; PepsiCo, which reported falling sales in the U.S., is chopping 3,300 jobs worldwide. Demand for Samsung's DRAM chips is dropping. The retailer Linens'n Things is closing its remaining 371 stores, eliminating 17,000 jobs...
...also interested in Chrysler, according to several industry sources. But corporate merger would just be a step-up from the collaboration already going on among rivals in the industry. The sheer cost of developing new, more fuel-efficient vehicles is driving companies together, observes another executive, who notes that GM has already collaborated with Ford on building new transmission and has worked with Chrysler and BMW in developing hybrid vehicles. Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish said that Chrysler entered into a partnership with Nissan earlier this year to build trucks for the Japanese automaker. Last month, the company began building minivans...
Meanwhile, the outlook for the entire industry remains grim. Show rooms across the country are empty. Furthermore, in spite of Monday's huge upturn on Wall Street, GMAC, the finance company owned jointly by GM and Cerberus, did not loosen its strictures on credit, announcing it would not underwrite loans for any customer who did not have a credit score of at least 700, effectively shutting out the majority of buyers. Said GMAC spokeswoman Sue Mallino: "The company currently expects these actions to remain in place until the credit markets stabilize and accessibility improves...