Gm And Chrysler

TAMPA, Fla. - As Mitt Romney released more misleading claims about President Obama and the auto bailout on Tuesday, officials at GM and Chrysler weighed in and said the statements put forward by Romney about job losses and the offshoring of jobs were false - an unusual move for corporations, which tend to avoid entering the fray of partisan politics. Romney released a new radio ad in Ohio that continued to imply that Chrysler, the parent company of Jeep, had outsourced production to China, and in a new accusation, claimed that GM was moving 15,000 American jobs to China.

AVON LAKE, Ohio — In a sign of continued concern over the political impact of his opposition to the auto bailout, Mitt Romney is airing an ad that blames President Obama for sending auto companies into bankruptcy and erroneously implies that the president's actions prompted a car manufacturer to send jobs overseas. Thousands of jobs in the upper Midwest were tied to the auto bailout — $80 billion in federal loans to GM and Chrysler — that many credit with saving the industry.

Detroit native Mitt Romney has long contended that the U.S. automobile industry would be better off had the federal government not bailed out General Motors and Chrysler. In particular, he argued in 2008 and again in February (while campaigning in Michigan's Republican primary) that the companies should have restructured themselves without the feds' involvement through a "managed bankruptcy" process. But that ignores a crucial fact: Companies that are broke require money to keep operating, even while under the protection of a Bankruptcy Court.

One of President Obama's talking points on the campaign trail has been the revival of General Motors and Chrysler, which would almost certainly have gone into liquidation had his administration not kept them afloat through a government-led bankruptcy and restructuring in 2009. But a commercial that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been airing in Ohio (and online) tries to cast Obama's actions in a considerably more negative light. That's not surprising in and of itself.

The Obama administration urged Congress not to intervene in the closings of hundreds of General Motors and Chrysler dealerships, warning it could undermine the automakers' ability to rebound. Ron Bloom, the leader of the White House's auto task force, said a House plan to restore dealerships could jeopardize the taxpayers' recovery of billions in federal aid to GM and Chrysler.

NEW YORK -- GMAC, the former lending arm of General Motors Co., is in talks with the Treasury Department for a third injection of taxpayer aid, a further sign of the U.S. government's entrenchment in the auto industry. The Treasury Department mandated earlier this year that GMAC Financial Services raise an additional $11.5 billion in capital by next month after undergoing a "stress test" along with 18 other banks. While other banks deemed undercapitalized have been able to raise funds from private investors, GMAC has been forced to go back to the government.

Ayear after the Big Three implored Congress to save their industry from collapse, the fortunes of U.S. automakers are looking up. Ford, which lobbied for the bailout but took no aid directly, recently reported its second consecutive quarterly profit. General Motors, which emerged from bankruptcy with the U.S. government as its biggest stakeholder, announced even better sales in October than Ford. It's harder to find good news out of Chrysler, which has received $13.8 billion in federal aid. But at least its new leadership announced plans this month to break even by 2011 and pay taxpayers back by 2014.

A day after the president threw down the gauntlet for the American auto industry, General Motors Corp. began the work of selling cars anew. On Tuesday, even as its new chief executive acknowledged the growing possibility of bankruptcy, the ailing carmaker announced an aggressive new incentive plan that, in part, will cover car payments for customers who lose their jobs.

Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is again claiming credit for saving the U.S. automobile industry. On Monday the former Massachusetts governor visited a manufacturer of truck parts in Euclid, Ohio, where he was interviewed by a local television station. The reporter noted that the manufacturer, Stamco Industries, may owe its survival to the federal government's decision to throw lifelines to General Motors and Chrysler in early 2009. Romney responded by giving his own version of events: "My own view, by the way, was that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help.

One of President Obama's talking points on the campaign trail has been the revival of General Motors and Chrysler, which would almost certainly have gone into liquidation had his administration not kept them afloat through a government-led bankruptcy and restructuring in 2009. But a commercial that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been airing in Ohio (and online) tries to cast Obama's actions in a considerably more negative light. That's not surprising in and of itself.

TAMPA, Fla. - As Mitt Romney released more misleading claims about President Obama and the auto bailout on Tuesday, officials at GM and Chrysler weighed in and said the statements put forward by Romney about job losses and the offshoring of jobs were false - an unusual move for corporations, which tend to avoid entering the fray of partisan politics. Romney released a new radio ad in Ohio that continued to imply that Chrysler, the parent company of Jeep, had outsourced production to China, and in a new accusation, claimed that GM was moving 15,000 American jobs to China.

LANSING, Mich. - Mitt Romney is making a play for his native Michigan, which last voted for a Republican for president nearly a quarter of a century ago. His task is made infinitely more difficult because of his opposition to the auto bailouts that many credit with saving the industry, a fact that was illustrated when he took the stage here Tuesday, not far from a GM plant. As protesters outside the Lansing Community College auditorium where he appeared criticized Romney's opposition to the bailouts, the presumptive GOP nominee was introduced by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican who has called the $80-billion federal loans to GM and Chrysler successful.

Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is again claiming credit for saving the U.S. automobile industry. On Monday the former Massachusetts governor visited a manufacturer of truck parts in Euclid, Ohio, where he was interviewed by a local television station. The reporter noted that the manufacturer, Stamco Industries, may owe its survival to the federal government's decision to throw lifelines to General Motors and Chrysler in early 2009. Romney responded by giving his own version of events: "My own view, by the way, was that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help.

Detroit native Mitt Romney has long contended that the U.S. automobile industry would be better off had the federal government not bailed out General Motors and Chrysler. In particular, he argued in 2008 and again in February (while campaigning in Michigan's Republican primary) that the companies should have restructured themselves without the feds' involvement through a "managed bankruptcy" process. But that ignores a crucial fact: Companies that are broke require money to keep operating, even while under the protection of a Bankruptcy Court.

Mitt Romney has car trouble. No, we're not referring to the notorious 1983 incident in which he forced the family dog to ride in a crate strapped to the top of his station wagon, but a matter likely to hurt him far more with blue-collar voters: his contention that the bailouts of the U.S. automotive industry by both Presidents George W. Bush and Obama were a bad idea. If a speech last week by Vice President Joe Biden is any indicator, the Obama campaign is going to use the auto bailouts as a sledgehammer against Romney, should the latter emerge as the GOP nominee.

In 2006, Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault and Nissan and one of the car industry's longest-serving bosses, held exploratory talks on an alliance with General Motors. Kirk Kerkorian, the Beverly Hills billionaire investor, had built a large stake in GM and won a board seat at a company that he thought was drifting but that Ghosn could help get back on course. But the talks with GM — whose then-CEO, Rick Wagoner, considered Kerkorian a gadfly — went nowhere. GM demanded a $2-billion "equalizing contribution" from Renault and Nissan for the privilege of forming a partnership.

Unexpectedly good news about the government's auto industry bailout has bolstered the case for comprehensive federal regulations for the financial system, President Obama said in his weekly address Saturday. Obama, facing public unease over unprecedented government interventions in the economy, noted that the Treasury Department found that the bailout of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group "will end up costing taxpayers a fraction of what was originally feared," because those companies have performed far better than expected after getting federal help.

The federal government's $85-billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry will be less costly than first thought, but it's still not clear whether taxpayers will recoup all of their investment, according to a congressional watchdog panel. With major automakers on the mend, the taxpayers' position has "starkly improved" since the last review by the Congressional Oversight Panel in September 2009. At that time federal budget analysts estimated that taxpayers would lose $40 billion from the bailout.

In the weeks prior to General Motors' historic bankruptcy filing in June of last year, then-car czar Steven Rattner furiously raced to tie up a number of key last-minute details. Chief among them was finding someone to take over stewardship of the 100-year-old company's board. Amid negotiations with Ed Whitacre Jr., the irascible Texan who would go on to take the job, Rattner was troubled by reports about his own finances.