GM = Bankrupt

[Slew Foot]

Not EXXON makes that much money, unreal.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
second-quarter loss of $15.5 billion

I know I shouldn't be, but I'm absolutely laughing my ass off right now. That's such an absurd amount of money to lose in a single quarter that I can't really mentally grasp it. Their operating losses (the money they lost just to run the company, compared to their income) was more than their entire market capitalization, never mind the further 9bil or so in writeoffs.

and yet they only have $2 billion less in liquid assets than they did last year at this time.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Vic
Even Toyota's sales were down over 20%. Of all the carmakers selling in the US, only Honda saw improved sales.

fixed

 

[Thump553]

To put some sort of perspective on today's GM quarterly earnings report-they lost $11.21 per share this quarter. The stock is currently trading at $10.60, so they actually lost more-in three months-than the entire stockholder's equity in the company.

Here's Standard & Poor's blurb on GM:
-------------
CORRECTION - S&P REITERATES HOLD OPINION ON SHARES OF GENERAL MOTORS
Friday 08/01/2008 10:07 AM ET - Standard & Poor's Research Notes
Q2 adj. loss of $11.21 vs. $2.29 EPS is wider than our $4.14 loss est. No. Amer. losses were key due to supplier strike, lower volume, dramatic swing in demand from trucks to cars. GM's share of GMAC loss was $1.9B. Europe was profitable but seems poised to slow. Latin Amer. and Mid. East demand among few bright spots. Barring significant further weakening of demand, we think GM has sufficient liquidity to carry it to '10 to healthcare savings and stronger economic growth (Earlier story said healthcare savings and stronger economic growth would carry it to '10). We will update.
-------------

How anyone could advise to continue to hold this stock befuddles me. I'd take my loss now and at least preserve what little is left.

 

[herm0016]

i think in a few more weeks, it will be time to but gm stock. there is no way a company of this size will ever go under, they have made improvements in there lines and are selling overseas very well.

 

[Thump553]

Originally posted by: herm0016
i think in a few more weeks, it will be time to but gm stock. there is no way a company of this size will ever go under, they have made improvements in there lines and are selling overseas very well.

The company can survive and the stockholders get wiped out. It happens all the time in Chapter 11 bankruptcies-by law the stockholders (who own the now nonexistent equity in the company) come last, after all creditors and bond holders.

If you are going to take this gamble, why wait a few weeks? You're giving the stock a chance to bounce up. Then again, it's only fallen 46 cents so far today (which is over 4%) so the market may have this as squahed down as it's going to get without a bankruptcy filing.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: herm0016
i think in a few more weeks, it will be time to but gm stock. there is no way a company of this size will ever go under, they have made improvements in there lines and are selling overseas very well.

It will take extreme cuts and restructuring to get this company back from that sort of loss.

 

[jpeyton]

GM is effed at $4/gallon.

Stamp it.

 

[Engineer]

GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

See breakdown in post below (Car sales down 18%, Truck/SUV sales down 40%, Hummer down 61%)

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda down 9.2%)


Edit: Addded Honda.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

Hmm, GM = EXTRA SPECIAL FUX0RED. The boardroom meetings at the top must be basically group-cries where people hug and try to convince the other managers not to jump off bridges.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

link!?!

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

link!?!

Live on CNBC. GM car sales down 18%. SUV/Truck sales down 40.4%. Hummer sales down 61%. Overall estimates were for 24.4% down...ouch!

(I just rewound CNBC on the DVR to give you the numbers).


Edit: Honda sales down 9.2% for July!

Nissan sales were up because they were giving up to 45% off MSRP (PLUS Dealer bonuses) on about 5 of their SUV/Truck/Van models!

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

Hmm, GM = EXTRA SPECIAL FUX0RED. The boardroom meetings at the top must be basically group-cries where people hug and try to convince the other managers not to jump off bridges.

Who killed the electric car?

And to think, GM had the key to a huge multi-billion dollar revolutionary market segment a decade ago. And they shredded and buried it in the desert.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Was this $15.5 billion a real loss or an accounting "paper loss"? It seems almost amazing that this company could stay in business while sustaining huge losses every quarter for years.

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

Hmm, GM = EXTRA SPECIAL FUX0RED. The boardroom meetings at the top must be basically group-cries where people hug and try to convince the other managers not to jump off bridges.

Who killed the electric car?

And to think, GM had the key to a huge multi-billion dollar revolutionary market segment a decade ago. And they shredded and buried it in the desert.

The EV1 was never going to be saleable in the real world. It didn't have the carrying capacity or the range, especially in non-warm climates. It also meant a loss on each vehicle in the tens of thousands.

The Chevrolet Volt, due out in a couple of years, may turn that around.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: yllus

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

Hmm, GM = EXTRA SPECIAL FUX0RED. The boardroom meetings at the top must be basically group-cries where people hug and try to convince the other managers not to jump off bridges.

Who killed the electric car?

And to think, GM had the key to a huge multi-billion dollar revolutionary market segment a decade ago. And they shredded and buried it in the desert.

The EV1 was never going to be saleable in the real world. It didn't have the carrying capacity or the range, especially in non-warm climates. It also meant a loss on each vehicle in the tens of thousands.

The Chevrolet Volt, due out in a couple of years, may turn that around.

I think that the point was that if GM continued down the path that they started, technology (batteries, better motor, capacators, etc.) would have caught up and they would possibly be in the drivers seat instead of last place in sales. It was a poor decision in hindsight. Sometimes, it takes a loss leader to move forward....

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: yllus

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda ?? ??%)

Hmm, GM = EXTRA SPECIAL FUX0RED. The boardroom meetings at the top must be basically group-cries where people hug and try to convince the other managers not to jump off bridges.

Who killed the electric car?

And to think, GM had the key to a huge multi-billion dollar revolutionary market segment a decade ago. And they shredded and buried it in the desert.

The EV1 was never going to be saleable in the real world. It didn't have the carrying capacity or the range, especially in non-warm climates. It also meant a loss on each vehicle in the tens of thousands.

The Chevrolet Volt, due out in a couple of years, may turn that around.

The Chevy Volt would have been out in 2004 if the EV1 wasn't scrapped and the company didn't turn its focus on consumer iterations of the Hummer.

GM set their own trap. The sacrificed long-term vision for short-term profits. 5000lb vehicles generate a lot more profit than econoboxes, but oil was always destined to go up. Their lack of long-term vision is stunning. Now they're hacking together hybrids while they're 2 years away from a production EV, even though they had a production ready beta back in 1996.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: Engineer
GM sales down 32.4% year over year for July! :shocked:

See breakdown in post below (Car sales down 18%, Truck/SUV sales down 40%, Hummer down 61%)

(Ford down 24%)
(Toyota down 18%)
(Nissan up 8.5%)
(Honda down 9.2%)


Edit: Addded Honda.

As someone tired of those behemoths I say WooHoo!

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: Engineer
I think that the point was that if GM continued down the path that they started, technology (batteries, better motor, capacators, etc.) would have caught up and they would possibly be in the drivers seat instead of last place in sales. It was a poor decision in hindsight. Sometimes, it takes a loss leader to move forward....

Eh, yes and no. GM is outsourcing the contract to manufacture of the batteries that will form the heart of the Volt to two companies - LG Chem and A123Systems. Both are using materials and technology only put to real-world use after 2005. I don't think they could have done much more to accelerate development.

In terms of taking a loss, GM is still slated to do that with the Volt:

The electric car reborn

In other words, it's possible that GM could find itself producing an experimental car that few people want to buy. And even if it can hit its aggressive sales targets, it still won't be making money. Given the cost of the battery and the determination to keep prices affordable, there's no way GM is going to turn a profit on the Volt, at least not until a few years down the road when economies of scale tip the business model into the black. "The economics of this thing are ugly," [GM vice-president Jon] Lauckner admits in a moment of candour.

 

[herm0016]

have you guys ever seen an EV? I somehow doubt it. they were un-safe, un-engineered plastic soup cans with seats and an electric motor. hardly a beta to a production car with all the stuff the consumer wants.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: herm0016
have you guys ever seen an EV? I somehow doubt it. they were un-safe, un-engineered plastic soup cans with seats and an electric motor. hardly a beta to a production car with all the stuff the consumer wants.

The consumer wants better mileage and possible zero useage of oil (gas), so I would say that the consumer might just bend on some of the wants of other items to get the above. Besides, nobody said that the EV1 was a final solution. It was a "start" and if continued, could have led to something workable as a very good solution....could have, would have, should have.....that kind of thing.

 

[seemingly random]

It's not the consumer that drives safety - it's the insurance companies - for purely financial reasons.

 

[Socio]

Originally posted by: ericlp
Dunno if they will go bankrupt but it serves them right for building gas guzzlers and I believe they a division of the hummer ...

I just kinda hope that Ford and Chevy follow them as they had a lot of time to build a smart car that can get 40+ MPG's. Any company that couldn't see what was going to happen in the past few years deserves what they get.

Yep they waited way too long to jump on to the hybrid/full alternative fuel vehicles, had they started pioneering this ten years ago they would be on top of the pack and would have forced competitors to do the same. By now most if not their entire line and competitors line would be Hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles and this whole high gas price phenomenon would have likely not happened. In fact we would probably be paying under $2.00 a gallon because demand would have been much lower.