They ended with about 14 billion in cash and they lost money all around the world:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/26/news...ion=2009022607

 

Ouch.... but given the state of the economy and the nosedive trend in sales, it was hardly avoidable. The numbers are staggering though and too much to really comprehend - 82B in net losses over four years - there are countries whose GDP is less than that number, and GM lost that all by itself - even if some of it was paper loss and not "real" money.

 

Do we have any other automakers numbers yet for the same period? Domestic and/or foreign?

It'll be interesting to see how the compare.

 

GM lost $30.9 billion last year.
Ford lost less than half that, $14.6 billion.
Cerberus hasn't posted any financial statements on Chrysler.


GM lost $9.6 billion this quarter.
Ford, $5.5 billion.

General Motors is expecting a "Notice of Going Concern" from it's auditors, which essentially a note from auditors stating their doubt of viability of the company. Basically, based on finances, they don't believe a company can continue.


Ford, although morgaged up to their eyeballs, still has over $24 billion in cash. Even with losses equaling 2008's record losses Ford can easily make it through 2009, and Ford has cut their cash burn rate.

Ford still currently has 4 times the market value of GM.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/28911098
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090226/...cll4bJ_rWL_bIF
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...902260438/1148

Though it depends on what vehicles, this is hardly true.

How much does GM clear on a Cobalt?

On a heavily discounted Impala?

A Cadillac Escalade, as huge as it's margin is, GM clears far less than 50% on each one.

 

Does the shear size of GM calculate reasonably into any of this.

Just using Ford vs GM as a comparison... since the auto market is just crushed right now, shouldn't GM be logically hit twice as bad if they are, for rough numbers, twice the size of Ford?

Just trying to see how they can be losing this much more than the competition other than just a complete screw up in money and asset managment?

The other side of the coin is, if this is the case, shouldn't GM rebound twice as fast when the market picks up again?(if they make it through all this, of course)

I'm sure I am way oversimplifying this, but hey, I'm a simple person.

 

GM has been teetering for at least a decade. I don't think they ever planned for a doomesday like this because they saw it as unsurvivable.

 

That's why I'm peeved. GM have had many opportunities to restructure before. The powers that be needed to make the tough decisions then and there, but FAILED!

I ask myself if there are people on this planet who could turn GM around to make it a success story once again. I believe there are. If people are making excuses for GM's past performance, they are making excuses for the incompetent faction(s) within GM, not the company as a whole... because it's those who actually love GM that are keeping the company above water. They don't need any excuses.

GM should have had the product to prepare for a 'doomsday' in the first place. It disappoints me that GM are so reactionary. It's reactionary people who generally cannot make sound decisions... people who change their minds at a whim and fail to deliver.

 

Don't worry guys, GM can become profitable again by not making a new Impala or G6 and then selling the current models in lower quantities and at lower prices. They will then bring in a little more cash by waiting until Ford and Honda put out all new compact cars before they sell the Chevy Cruze in the USA. And then of course there is the Pontiac G3 that Pontiac diehards have been waiting for.

 

BRILLIANT!!!

 

The point is that it costs a certain amount to make the car.

A $12,000 doesn't bring in $12,000. It more likely brings in a few hundred.
A $60,000 Escalade on the other hand may bring in $25 to $30 grand.

320,000 cars at $30,000 isn't netting GM $30,000 per vehicle. On average, taking everything current into account LOSES something like on the average of $2,000 per car currently, if not more.

 

Here are the volume segment cars that'll be pivotal to GM's survival in the next two years:

 

... which will be going against these:

 

I saw something on the news today about this...it basically equated to them losing 60 some million dollars a week or something. It's unbelieveable how much money they are burning through.

At first I remained optimistic that GM would be able to pull through all this, but this is getting ridiculous. I also heard about the auditors most likely claiming that GM won't be able to make money in the future. The segment stated that without another major cash influx from the government that GM could be bankrupt some time in March. Not surprising considering the amount of money they have gone through. Sad thing is I have no idea what it is even going to...seriously, nearly 10 billion dollars in 1 quarter!?!

 

Must be all the $ they are spending on that G3! Making it sporty and such.......

 

Next Focus is expected to get 43mpg hwy and take the wind out of the sails of Chevy and their 40mpg Cruze.

Ford is also going to use direct injection on their small 4cyl. turbo engine to get the most MPG. Last rumor I heard was GM has decided to cut cost and leave DI off the Cruze engine.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/tag/2011+ford+focus/