Word: gm
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...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...
While a merger may make sense in terms of consolidating a troubled industry as a whole, it may not make financial sense given the specifics of GM's situation. While GM has insisted its current reserves of $21 billion can help it weather the economic turmoil and continue its restructuring efforts through 2009, that amount may not be enough to finance a post-merger restructuring of Chrysler. GM is also publicly committed to delivering the new electric Volt automobile before end of 2010 and closing Chrysler plants and technical centers to save cash could violate the spirit of $25 bilion...
Among industry analysts, there is also skepticism whether a merger would even work. "I just don't see the benefit to GM," notes an executive from a key supplier. "I can see the value in terms of reducing overlap and reducing capacity," says Laurie Harbour Felax, an analyst with the Harbour-Felax Group in Clarkston, Mi. "But the cost of doing that are so enormous, you have to wonder if it's really worth it," she says. Chrysler also has relatively few products that are not duplicates of those already sold by GM, she said...
...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...