Some good news at last for the battered and bruised automotive industry in North America where the new, downsized General Motors Company emerged from bankruptcy yesterday.
The company has been created from the old GM’s strongest operations and is built on four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. The four brands will offer 34 nameplates by 2010 compared to the old GM’s total of 48 in 2008.
The new General Motors’ common stock is split as follows:
- US Department of the Treasury: 60.8%
- UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust: 17.5%
- Canada and Ontario governments: 11.7%
- The old GM: 10%
It is expected that the company will become a much leaner operation and that by the end of 2010 it will operate 34 assembly, powertrain and stamping plants, down from its previous total of 47 in 2008. Its US employment will also decline from about 91,000 at the end of 2008 to around 64,000 at the end of 2009.
The new company will not be publicly traded initially but according to Fritz Henderson, the company’s president and CEO, it will go public again as soon as it is practical to do so. It is also expected that it will repay the Government loans well ahead of the 2015 deadline.
