Word: gm
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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General Motors' (GM) creditors have rejected a program that would have swapped most of the auto company's debt for equity, effectively driving the firm into Chapter 11. The century that began with the mass production of the Model T in 1909 and ended with the worst collapse of domestic vehicle demand in history is over. It was a 100-year period when Detroit was considered the seat of global manufacturing prowess, a period when the Big Three were among the largest, and often the most profitable, companies in the world...
...GM's bankruptcy, along with Chrysler's, will certainly help drive down the U.S. market share of the Big Three and open the door further to nimble and more well-funded competitors, including Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), Nissan and Hyundai. It would be surprising if Detroit has only a 30% share of the U.S. car market by the time vehicle sales recover even modestly, probably in 2011. (See pictures of Detroit's decline...
...Once GM comes out of Chapter 11, if it does, the U.S. government - or more accurately, the taxpayers - will own 70% of GM, and the UAW will own almost 18%. GM will have become a ward of the state...
...course, the entire GM restructuring process will raise national unemployment...
...pockets of resistance grow, GM may not have as easy a path through a bankruptcy court as Chrysler has had. Congress may decide to have an extended debate over whether the Treasury has the right to disintermediate bondholders and union workers. If the argument goes on long enough, the auto industry's restructuring could still turn into a liquidation...