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A lot of people have been writing about Detroit lately and why the one-time economic powerhouse is now a bankrupt echo of wasted opportunity. Most of it, coming from the usual suspects at MSNBC, is a lie designed to direct the public’s attention away from the oil – the lifeblood of the Motor City – on their ideological hands. The problems of Detroit are not so much economic one; they were caused, for the most part, by political corruption. Unlike most of those opining on television and in print, I was born in Detroit, in (the now gone) Mt. Carmel...

LogicDesigner wrote: It seems that John Ransom is at it again. I can just see his thought process. "Oh dangit, the GM has lowered the price of the Volt and now they had a record sales month. I better find some way to spin this story into how the Volt is an utter failure! If anyone disagrees with me I'll just call them a troll and question their conservative credentials!" (It seems John also deleted his comment where he called one of his critics a troll and accused them of pretending to be a conservative). "Someone should give me a...

The good news for GM these days is that no one has been consumed in a fiery death due to engine compartment fires since the Chevy Volt was discovered to spontaneous combust after accidents shortly after production began. The bad news for the company is that while Chevy Volt sales in June set a record, prior to June their sales for 2013 sucked despite general auto sales setting post-crash records. “With signs that sales of its Chevrolet Volt battery car could be coming unplugged,” reported NBC News in June, “General Motors is offering potential buyers as much as $5,000 in...

Detroit, once one of the nation's most vibrant cities, faces imminent bankruptcy. That's the headline from the report last month of emergency fiscal manager Kevyn Orr, issued 45 days after he was appointed this spring by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to take over the city's government. "The path Detroit has followed for more than 40 years is unsustainable," Orr said, "and only a complete restructuring of the city's finances and operations will allow Detroit to regain its footing and return to a path of prosperity." The police department, his report says, "is in disarray." Nearly one-quarter of fire department operations...

Two members of Congress are asking if the Treasury Department disproportionately targeted more Republican or conservative owned auto dealerships during the government-lead restructuring of General Motors in 2009. Breitbart.com reported today that Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Jim Renacci (R-OH) released a letter asking Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to release documents regarding the process and methodology that determined which GM dealerships were closed.

Two Congressmen are asking the Treasury Department if it inappropriately scrutinized conservative-owned businesses the same way it targeted Tea Party groups filing for tax-exempt status. Republicans Mike Kelly (PA-03) and Jim Renacci (OH-16) circulated a letter Thursday requesting Treasury Secretary Jack Lew release documents detailing the process and methodology the Automotive Task Force used to shut down General Motors dealerships in 2009 during the automotive industry crisis. Renacci's Northeast Ohio Chevrolet dealership was closed in 2010 after losing a battle with General Motors. Congress loaned General Motors $50 billion in 2009 after declaring bankruptcy, which resulted in the federal government...

Former half-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who often attacks Democrats for hurting small businesses, slammed American automakers Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive for being "losers" on her Facebook page. Palin attacked Fisker Automotive for laying off 75 percent of its employees last Friday, reports the Los Angeles Times. Palin also accused the Obama administration for supposedly attempting "to pick 'winners and losers' in the free market," but did not mention that for decades the federal government has made loans to businesses. She showed additional contempt for hybrid electric cars by slamming General Motors' Volt, which tripled its sales in 2012,...

The Chevy Volt has inarguably been the poster child for President Obama's push to electrify America's auto fleet. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent to produce and subsidize the plug-in electric car. For years we have heard about the supposedly amazing technology for the Volt which would lead America to energy independence, be a "game-changer" for General Motors and provide a multitude of new green jobs. Proclamations were made that supply for the wonder-car could not keep up with the demand. Well, March's sales figures are in and give further confirmation that the lofty claims were all lies. March's...

The U.S. government has sold another chunk of its stake in General Motors Co., the Associated Press reported. The Treasury Department said in its February report to Congress that it sold $489.9 million worth of GM common stock last month. The report said the government has recovered about $29.8 billion of its $49.5 billion bailout of the Detroit automaker. That means the government has yet to recover $19.7 billion of its investment in the automaker, AP said. That means it still owns about 277 million shares. Those would have to sell for around $71 each for the government to break...

Uh-oh: Susan Docherty, dispatched from China to Europe to teach the Eurotrash the proper appreciation and respect for Chevrolet and Cadillac, has come up with a strategy that assures the destruction of Cadillac outside of the U.S. Cadillac’s global aspirations hinge on its success in Europe, Docherty told WardsAuto. Again:” To be successful in China, Cadillac must first be successful in Europe. No blond jokes please, show some respect. “If a luxury brand is successful in Europe, whether that brand is Chanel or Prada, or Mercedes or BMW, people in parts of Asia look to see what Europeans validate as...

Interesting news for auto-watchers: Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A), the savvy conglomerate controlled by the great Warren Buffett, disclosed in an SEC filing on Thursday that it had bought 10 million shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM). That comes on top of another 15 million shares of GM Berkshire bought earlier in 2012, bringing the total value of the company's investment in the General to nearly $700 million as of Thursday's close. That's not chump change, even by Buffett's standards. What might Berkshire be thinking? Is GM a value stock? The obvious guess for anyone who knows anything about Buffett's career...

You may recall that during the presidential election, the Treasury Department refused requests by General Motors to unload the government's stake in the giant automaker. Taxpayers had sunk $50 billion into a union bailout in 2009 and were now proud owners of 26.5 percent of the struggling company. Reportedly, GM had growing concerns that the stigma of "Government Motors" was hurting sales in the United States. At the time, any transaction would have come at a steep loss to taxpayers and undermined the president's questionable campaign assertions that the auto union rescue had been a huge success. Well, now...

The Treasury Department said on Wednesday that it planned to sell off its entire stake in General Motors within 15 months, eliminating another reminder of the bailouts precipitated by the financial crash of 2008. The news comes a week after the Obama administration completely sold off its entire stake in the American International Group, one of the most controversial rescues of the market crisis. According to a plan outlined on Wednesday, the Treasury Department will sell a little less than half of its stake, or 200 million shares, back to General Motors for $5.5 billion by year end. The purchase...

A New York federal judge may rule imminently on a case that could reverse the General Motors (GM) bailout and send the company back into bankruptcy, according to sources close to the case. At issue is a backroom deal hatched by GM to fulfill the Obama administration’s demand for a quick bankruptcy, draining the automaker of nearly all of its cash on hand and leaving it in worse shape than it was when it collapsed in 2009. One condition of GM’s bailout was to shore up its overseas subsidiaries. On the eve of entering bankruptcy, the company cut a $367...

General Motors' Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car topped Consumer Reports' annual owner-satisfaction survey for the second straight year. Ninety-two percent of Volt owners surveyed by the influential consumer magazine said they would definitely buy the Volt again, earning the electric car the top ranking. Last year, 93 percent of respondents said they would buy the car again. "The Volt's two-year reign at the top of our satisfaction survey points to the continuing trend of owners' enthusiasm for cars that are fuel-efficient, especially as we see more and more hybrid and electric models hitting the market," Consumer Reports' auto editor, Rik...

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors is giving its Chevrolet Spark a jolt of electricity. An all-electric version of the mini-car will debut this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It goes on sale this summer in California, Oregon, Canada and South Korea, where it's made. Other markets will follow. Unlike the Chevrolet Volt sedan, which can run in all-electric mode but also has a backup gas engine, the Spark EV is a pure electric. GM won't say how far the car will go on a charge, but says it will be a top performer among the small number of...

Thousands of German workers at Opel cars will lose their jobs in another round of cuts announced this week by the car maker’s owner General Motors. As many as 2,300 people have already been let go. … The company lost half a billion dollars in Europe alone in the third quarter, when it produced just 196,000 cars—down from 270,000 in the same quarter last year. …

President Obama has been touting his bailout of General Motors as a reason for people in Michigan and Ohio to vote for him. However, there is one small problem with his argument. Regardless of the past, GM’s only hope for long-term survival nowis if Mitt Romney wins on November 6. If Obama is reelected, GM is doomed to a second bankruptcy (or to another taxpayer bailout). This is because Obama is committed to doubling down on the two policies that drove GM bankrupt in the first place: a weak, unstable dollar, and unrealistic corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements. In...

Not in America, but in Europe. The company's alliance with Peugeot is struggling — and that means intervention by the French government. A grim situation for global automakers selling cars in Europe is growing worse. Now the two biggest Detroit-based automakers are undertaking drastic cost-cutting measures to stem massive losses. General Motors Co. (GM) is joining forces with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen to split the cost of developing new models for GM's Opel and Vauxhall brands on the continent. Ford Motor Co. (F) is shutting its under-utilized Belgian assembly plant in Genk. Ford will juggle production among its plant in Valencia, Spain and...

The upstate economy took another significant blow today as General Motors announced it will close its fuel cell plant in Honeoye Falls, just south of Rochester. The decision means the 220 salaried employees who worked in the research and development facility won’t be employed in the area. The company said most of the employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to the Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters in Pontiac, Mich., the Democrat and Chronicle reports. “This decision has significant business advantages for the company,”said Kim Carpenter, GM spokeswoman. “For example, it will enable GM to capitalize on synergies with the...