For the people, with the people
Posted on November 3, 2009 at 7:27 am
Spring Hill Mayor Michael Dinwiddie has begun working the line at GM’s Spring Hill plant, where the last Chevy Traverse will roll off the line in three weeks.
permalink | Comment on this post
Which begs the question: Why not Spring Hill?
Posted on October 26, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Hybrid electric-car maker Henrik Fisker plans to convert a 52-year-old former GM plant in Delaware with the help of a massive credit line from the Department of Energy. (For more on Fisker, check out this Forbes story.)
I already have two possible answers to my question, one practical, the other political. The first: The Wilmington plant already has closed, while Spring Hill will crank out cars for a few more weeks. The second: This gentleman is from Delaware.
Got any other good answers?
Why the Saturn story isn’t yet done
Posted on October 1, 2009 at 11:11 amPhil LeBeau says the Saturn dealers GM so successfully wooed in the late 1980s are likely to throw their weight around in an attempt to save the brand and their business.
They will likely try to force GM into doing one of two things: 1) give them money to go away or, 2) get back in the room with Penske and work out a deal. And with the U.S. Government now owning a majority of GM, you can bet the Saturn dealers will press their case in Washington.
Penske pulls Saturn’s plug
Posted on September 30, 2009 at 6:54 pm
After his deal with General Motors didn’t pass muster with the unnamed company that would have taken over manufacturing operations, Roger Penske has cancelled his planned purchase of Saturn. Without the assurance of someone to take over production, “the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward.”
For its part, GM isn’t even going to try again to save Saturn. Its operations will be completely wound down by next fall, shutting off the lights at dealerships in Rivergate and Cool Springs.
SEE ALSO: Very randomly placed at the end of a Bloomberg story, this quote from an analyst on what coulda been for Saturn.
“Saturn is the brand you wanted to like,” said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst at IHS Global Insight. “It is the little brand that could have and should have” been great.
A lot of people around these parts would agree with that.
A milestone for Spring Hill engine plant
Posted on September 17, 2009 at 7:15 am
The powertrain workers at GM’s Spring Hill complex recently cranked out their 2 millionth Ecotec engine.
permalink | Comment on this post
Hummer sale hits speed bump
Posted on September 8, 2009 at 7:10 am
A lack of details looks like it will slow down GM’s planned sale of Hummer to a Chinese conglomerate — and delay a decision on the possible settlement of the auto maker’s HQ in Nashville.
permalink | Comment on this post
GM’s Hummer sale moves toward close
Posted on August 24, 2009 at 6:43 am
The sale by General Motors of Hummer — and the possible establishment of the latter’s HQ in Nashville — could be signed as early as this week, sources are telling Bloomberg.
permalink | Comment on this post
GM brings back workers, adds overtime
Posted on August 18, 2009 at 3:00 pmSpurred by the cash-for-clunkers program, the auto manufacturer is reinstating 1,350 people and adding 60,000 vehicles to its production schedule.
230 mpg
Posted on August 11, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Nice headline number, huh? GM says its Volt electric car will get monstrous mileage, but ZDNet’s Larry Dignan’s eye landed on the fine print instead.
What happens when it’s summer, 90 degrees and humid and you have a car pool going? When the battery hits a minimum level, the Volt will switch to extended-range mode. In this mode, the Volt’s fuel engine produces electricity.
permalink | Comment on this post
GM to sell through eBay
Posted on August 10, 2009 at 10:59 am
Teaming up with more than 200 California dealers, the auto maker is testing a concept to market its cars through the Web auction house.
permalink | Comment on this post
GM’s buyout falls short
Posted on August 3, 2009 at 12:52 pmAnd the auto maker may have to lay off more than 7,000 hourly people to meet its previously stated goal of reaching 40,500 people.
G.M.’s contract with the U.A.W. calls for hourly workers who are laid off to receive most of their pay through a combination of state unemployment benefits and supplemental pay from the company, though the union recently agreed to shorten the time that assistance was available.
What we were up against
Posted on July 7, 2009 at 2:08 pmIn Tennessee’s losing bid for a new General Motors operation in Spring Hill, a Wisconsin news outlet is reporting that that state was offering up to $200 million in incentives. And even it eventually lost out to a facility in Orion Township north of Detroit.
Janesville’s release says the $200 million offer included $38 million worth of incentives from Beloit, Janesville and Rock County.
Boutwell says Rock County promised $20 million in incentives. Janesville says it offered $15 million plus savings of up to $1 million a year by offering to operate the plant’s wastewater facility. Beloit offered $2 million.
GM last month selected a facility in Orion Township north of Detroit to assemble small and compact cars over Janesville and another finalist in Spring Hill, Tenn., near Nashville.
permalink | Comment on this post
So much for the overhaul
Posted on June 26, 2009 at 1:16 amOne thing Spring Hill thought it had going for it was that GM had poured hundreds of millions into the plant in recent years to update its lines.
“It just kinda doesn’t seem to make sense… Why not take advantage of it?”
permalink | Comment on this post
A word from the winner
Posted on at 12:47 amThe relief about GM’s decision Thursday is palpable in Michigan, with public officials and residents taking turns sighing and praising the incentive package that helped sway the auto maker.
Michigan’s congressional delegation also lobbied heavily to bring the small car to the state. All 17 members sent a letter to GM last week saying that the state’s economic woes made the project important for Michigan. Peters had begun a “Make it in Michigan!” campaign that collected over 28,000 signatures.
SEE ALSO: The dejection and frustration in Wisconsin, where one union rep says, “In my mind, it didn’t matter what we brought to the table. Janesville did all it could do, and the people on the task force really busted their butts trying to get something here, but GM is trying to move everything to Michigan.”
permalink | Comment on this post
Looking beyond Spring Hill’s shock
Posted on June 25, 2009 at 8:34 pmOne longtime GM Spring Hill employee keeps his chin up after reports today that the auto maker has chosen a Michigan plant to build its next-generation small car.
“I am a person who believes you have got a great work force. You have a great plant. General Motors is separating the bad GM from the good and reinventing themselves and looking for a new path to take. I would think they understand they have a valuable asset there.”
Recent Comments
Taxation caused the moves to Mexico. In an upcoming...
This reports shows that the downfall started under Bush....
In this era, the government jobs are created at...
Added government jobs are also the hardest to...
Interesting question, oatka, and here is a...
How many civil servant jobs have been created in the...
20% is about what they figured was shifted from the 4th quarter to the...
CSR you were spot on the first paragraph but fouled out in the...
Let the free market decide. If there’s demand for these...
I like KEW’s idea. “I think only of myself Nissan...