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Great news for consumers who are considering buying General Motors' green wonder car, the Chevy Volt. I know how excited those environmentally conscientious Volt enthusiasts can get, but a little patience can pay off big time if potential buyers hold off for a year or so on their purchase. According to GM CEO Dan Akerson and following another dismal month of Volt sales (1,306 in April), the car that defies logic will soon be available for up to $10,000 less money. The good news extends to shareholders of GM as the next generation of the Volt will supposedly be profitable...

Starting production of the all-electric Leaf in Tennessee helped Nissan sell more Leafs in the US in March 2013 than in any other month. April wasn't quite as sunny, but the 1,937 Leafs sold last month were still good enough for second place. Ever. April also marked the second month in a row that the Leaf beat the Chevrolet Volt. It's not that General Motors had a bad month. The 1,306 Volts sold last month were roughly in line with March and February (but it's a downward trending line, with 1,626 sold in February and 1,478 in March).

Earlier this year, I reviewed General Motors' first quarter earnings report and annual results . My take-away from the report was that GM relied upon shady accounting techniques and a build-up of US dealer inventories to produce some rosy-looking results. Channel stuffing to the tune of an over 20% increase in inventory from year end 2011 provided for GM's revenue growth. The trend continues as GM has further pumped-up inventory for quarter one. The reason that dealer inventory figures are so important is that automakers record revenue when vehicles are shipped to dealerships, not when they are actually sold to...

General Motors Co. says the new diesel version of the Chevrolet Cruze gets 46 miles per gallon on the highway, making it more efficient than some hybrids. … It starts at $25,695. That’s $7,755 more than the base price on a gas-powered Cruze. …

General Motors will invest €4 billion ($5.2 billion) in its troubled German subsidiary Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall by 2016, the US auto giant has announced. “As a global automotive company, GM needs a strong presence in Europe, in terms of design and development as well as manufacturing and sales,” GM chairman and chief executive Dan Akerson said at Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim near Frankfurt late on Wednesday. … The German car maker has been making losses for years as it has been slow to react to the crisis in demand for cars in Europe, by far its...

It appears that the Mainstream Media folks may finally be starting to expose one of the worst cases of taxpayer abuse that this country has ever seen. Kudos to Deepa Seetharaman who wrote a piece for Reuters which questions the feasibility of the government-subsidized, lithium-ion based battery technology behind electric vehicles (EVs) like the Chevy Volt. While Seetharaman acknowledges the limitations of lithium-ion batteries, what remains unchallenged is the continued waste of billions of taxpayer dollars to support the failing, pseudo-green technology. The evidence that the Obama Administration's EV subsidization has been a costly fiasco (particularly regarding the Chevy Volt...

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...

There has been an important story brewing over the past several months regarding General Motors' flawed bankruptcy process that has been widely ignored by the media. GM may have to readdress its 2009 bankruptcy settlement due to a lawsuit by a group of GM creditors against hedge funds over a settlement involving the company's Nova Scotia debt. The creditors brought to light the fact that the company did not have its ducks in a row at the time of its 2009 bankruptcy filing and allege that GM was still in the middle of backroom negotiations with hedge funds beyond the...

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...

The Federal Reserve's latest round of stress tests for the banking industry showed only one bank remaining on a shaky financial foundation . That bank was government-owned Ally Financial (the bailed-out company formerly known as GMAC), which also happens to be General Motors' prime source for financing. GM divested itself of GMAC so that the struggling lender could be classified as a bank holding company and receive billions of taxpayer dollars. In a move to distance itself from GM, the company was renamed Ally Financial. The government maintains majority ownership of Ally Financial, which in turn has helped GM by...

General Motors released its disappointing earnings report last week to the sound of crickets. While financial TV news networks (along with most analysts and journalists) ignored the negative aspects of the release, share price has fallen over 5% in less than a week since the news hit. The earnings release and subsequent SEC 10K (annual report) expose the fact that GM's recovery is not the success that the Obama Administration and media portray. The lack of the fanfare that typically comes with GM earnings releases is as good an indication of the meaning behind the numbers as is the decline...

Yesterday's earnings' report by General Motors threw up some red flags that I reviewed here. In recent quarters, the media seemed to give quite a bit of coverage on GM's earnings, but not so this time. I wanted to follow up and discuss what the financial news networks obviously will not. The most glaring number that warrants further discussion was the $35 billion deferred tax valuation allowance. This tax credit is not allowed under GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) but that does not stop many companies from using it as they tout non-GAAP earnings. It is the huge amount of...

General Motors reported earnings today that appeared non-eventful on the surface. Upon further inspection there are some underlying concerns, including a glaring one-time event that stands out. That is an adjustment to earnings with a tax benefit (as opposed to paying taxes) of $35 billion for a "deferred tax valuation release." This was coupled with a goodwill impairment charge of about $27 billion, which allows GM to reduce the previously unusually high goodwill assets that were recorded on its balance sheet. GM uses non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to calculate its calendar year operating income of $7.9 billion. The GAAP...

Perhaps General Motors should have put more focus on competing in the largest segment of the auto market instead of focusing on being the market leader in the least popular, plug-in, electric vehicle (EV) field. A Detroit Free Press article reported that GM had to slash Chevy Malibu prices by hundreds of dollars to try and catch up with vehicles like the Toyota Camry, which is currently eating the Malibu's lunch. Chevy spokesman Michael Albino is quoted as admitting that, "The midsize segment is the largest and most competitive in the industry." Maybe GM should have realized that when they...

January's dismal numbers for Chevy Volt sales may give a clue as to how successful (or not) President Obama will be in reaching his goal of having a million electric vehicles (EVs) on American roads within the next few years, a goal that is increasingly becoming unlikely. It also gives us a glimpse into a bizarre strategy General Motors has had by focusing so strongly on plug-in cars while they lose market share elsewhere. The numbers are in, and GM can proudly say that they are the market leader in an insignificant field with a paltry 1,140 Volts sold in...

Someone gave the Chevy Volt a tuxedo, and it fits well. The Cadillac ELR coupe is the luxury automaker’s take on extended range electric vehicle, and its first ever hybrid car. The dramatic two-door is wider than the Volt and dressed in a slightly toned down version of the sharply creased, broad shouldered bodywork seen on the Cadillac CTS coupe. It rides on turbine-look 20-inch wheels and features vertical head and brake light clusters, the latter with a slight tailfin design. Like the Volt, the ELR is powered by a combination of an electric drive unit and 1.4-liter internal...

General Motors finished 2012 with a 17.9% market share in the US and is expected to repeat the performance in 2013 according to a Bloomberg report. The number is at the lowest point it has been since 1924. So what is behind the dismal numbers at GM that sees the company performing at 88 year lows? Before speculating on why GM has lost so much market share to the competition, I must point out the technicality that the company has actually only been in existence for 3 1/2 years, so we are comparing market share to "Old GM." "New GM"...

The final tally is in for 2012 Chevy Volt sales. The good news (which is what most headlines will trumpet) is that sales for General Motors' flagship green vehicle tripled from 2011's paltry 7,671 to a slightly less paltry 23,461 in 2012. The bad news is that the number is almost half of GM's sales goal of 45,000 in 2012 for the Volt. The further bad news is that the Volt has so little demand in most regions that some dealerships are refusing to pay for required tools to repair the vehicles and are choosing to cease selling the vehicles...

Administration puts an expensive end to a disgraceful episodeGeneral Motors will no longer be “Government Motors.” The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced its intention to liquidate federal holdings in the automobile company over the next 15 months. The final tally will show this policy has been a disaster for taxpayers. Under the best case scenario, the public will wind up shelling out more than $13 billion by the close of this unfortunate episode. Though President Obama has portrayed the GM bailout as saving Detroit, it was really a reward for the auto unions. It was a celebration of bad management...

Let's all rejoice! The Treasury Department is finally beginning to unload the taxpayers' stake in General Motors after a three and a half year stint of government involvement in the company. While the decision to get taxpayers out of the private sector is the correct one, the move is hardly a cure-all for what ails GM. And despite reports to the contrary, this does not bring closure to all groups that were involved in the unprecedented intrusion of government into the private sector that saw politically-powerful groups like the UAW receive favorable treatment over other classes. Let's start by reviewing...

Speaking at the Daimler Detroit Diesel Plant in Redford, Mich., on Monday, President Barack Obama lashed out at the Michigan legislature for passing a right-to-work law and declared that Americans only needed to look at Michigan if they wanted to see how unions helped build the middle class. “These so-called right to work laws, they don’t have to do with economics,” Obama said. “They have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money. You only have to look to Michigan, where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto...

This was a week of some surprises and some perfectly foreseeable consequences of forces which have been in play for some time. The fiscal cliff talks have gone nowhere, to the surprise of only the most daft who do not realize that the President does not want a pragmatic solution. He's fixated on soaking "the rich", stirring up class hatred and trying to drive a wedge between his opposition forces. Among the surprises is this: Michigan, long seen as the showplace home of America's industrialized unions, has voted to become a right to work state. Its Governor Rick Snyder said...

Now that Barack Obama is safely ensconced in the White House for another four years, several items which should have been noticed or revealed before Election Day have come to the fore. Collectively, they tell us two things: that the pre-election economy was worse than voters were led to believe, and that the prospects for meaningful improvement under the current regime are bleak at best. Additionally, in at least one instance, economic activity itself was likely manipulated. The probable gamesmanship occurred at Government/General Motors, which is still effectively under Obama administration control, still on track to saddle U.S. taxpayers with...

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 is making more ridiculous Chevy Volt by flooding the web with stories of how 100 million electric miles have been driven since the Volt's much-hyped inception. Let's put the boasting in perspective. In the two plus years that it took for Volt drivers to put on 100 million miles, gas-powered vehicles logged over 5 TRILLION miles in the US. It would take only 5,000 cars traveling 10,000 miles a year to log 100 million miles in two years. The Volt has fallen far short of sales goals and has cost taxpayers billions of dollars in subsidies to reach...

Albert Einstein is credited with having defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Well, prepare for more insanity as General Motors is doubling down on green energy and plug-in cars after the disappointing sales results from previous entries into the field. The politically-motivated hype that we saw, and continue to see, on the Chevy Volt will be repeated. This time the over-hyped vehicle will be a Korean-made, all-electric Chevy Spark. The misrepresentations from GM and the media on the Spark EV (electric vehicle) are already starting with headlines on stories ( like...

The final pieces are coming together in the General Motors' restructuring puzzle as the company has, not surprisingly, won its bid to repurchase government-owned Ally Financial's European and Latin American lending operations. GM was forced to spin off all but 10% of Ally Financial back when it was known as GMAC. Back in late 2008, the spigots of taxpayer money were open and GM had its cup out. In order for GM's lending arm (GMAC) to receive TARP funds, GM had to divest all but less than 10% of the company so that GMAC could be granted status as a...

It is being suggested that President Obama's reelection was at leaset in part helped by the auto industry bailouts , or more accurately, the portrayal of the bailouts by the president and the media. It is therefore important to surmise that the precedent setting auto bankruptcy proceedings saw billions of taxpayer dollars used to not only help the industry, but to fund the reelection of the sitting president that orchestrated the process. The greatest travesty of the 2012 election campaign may have been that the auto bailouts were never properly debated. The main point should not have been whether or...

General Motors is criticizing Mitt Romney for running an ad that says GM cut 15,000 jobs under the Obama Administration. The Detroit Free Press reported that GM spokesman Greg Martin (speaking about the Romney ad) stated, "No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country." Leaving aside for a moment the bigger issue of a taxpayer-supported entity improperly inserting itself in an election, lets examine the facts. A look at GM's annual SEC filings gives a clear picture of how many people were...

(Associated Posers) – DETROIT – Some high-level executives are feeling down about some of the after-effects of the so-called “bailout”. They said they miscalculated public reaction in accepting the terms dictated from Washington. “Apparently there is a bias in this country, very widespread, that people believe a business should earn its revenue by selling products or services” said one executive who requested anonymity “We were under the impression that once the people understood they were all part-owners of the company that they would take pride in it”. Instead of rightly appreciating the government taking their money and buying up 25%...

As the presidential election nears we continue to hear about what a great job the Obama Administration did "saving" General Motors. The claims are that millions of jobs were saved and Mitt Romney wanted to let Detroit go bankrupt. A review of the facts reveals that the auto bailout process that cost taxpayers billions of dollars is hardly anything to brag about. When President Obama says he "saved" GM, what he means is that his administration guided a bankruptcy process for the company, funded with taxpayer dollars. The repeated statements by Obama that Romney would have let the company go...

President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to sustain momentum from Vice President Joe Biden's strong debate showing by touting the benefits of one of his signature actions, the rescue of the U.S. auto industry, as he prepared for his next debate with Republican Mitt Romney. "We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way."

The 2012 election campaigns have seen accusations thrown about that both President Obama and Governor Romney have been less than honest at times. After Obama was soundly trounced in the first debate, the defense for the President's poor performance (other than Al Gore's theory that it was the high altitude) was that Mitt Romney lied. While that unsubstantiated charge might make Governor Romney an accused liar, the facts surrounding the General Motors bankruptcy process reveal that those in the Obama Administration are proven liars. Although many in the media might choose to ignore the ethical shortcomings of the GM bankruptcy...

Robert Ferguson, named today by General Motors Co. to the new position of “vice president, global Cadillac,” is not a “car guy,” in the Detroit parlance. He’s a government guy, and before that, a deal guy and a phone guy. This is a sign of how things are changing at GM as it tries to rebuild itself post-bankruptcy. Mr. Ferguson, 53, joined GM in 2010 and until today was GM’s vice president for public policy, aka chief lobbyist in Washington. He led GM’s negotiations with Obama administration officials over the details of the president’s plan to nearly double the fuel...

President Obama called for a "new economic patriotism" during last night's presidential debate. Well, hold on to your wallets as this new buzz phrase seems to be a euphemism for "wealth redistribution." Just ask old General Motors bondholders or non-unionized Delphi retirees about how Obama's so-called "shared sacrifices" are more about cronyism than patriotism. President Obama is campaigning on a platform that constantly touts everyone "paying a fair share and having a fair shot." Unfortunately for those that do not belong to a politically-favored class, the Obama Administration gets to determine what is fair. This was evidenced during the GM...

General Motors reported that it sold 2,851 Chevy Volts in September. The number is sure to be touted as a great success, even though the annualized rate of sale is still well below initial sales goals for the vehicle and no where near what conventionally-powered, mainstream cars sell. What is sure to be less publicized by the media is that the majority of the Volt "sales" were heavily subsidized leases that are costing taxpayers millions of dollars. GM spokesman, Jim Cain, told me that a full two thirds of Volt sales were leases. Backing out leases and fleet sales, about...

After Reuters’ claim that GM was losing $49,000 per vehicle on the Chevy Volt, former GM CEO (and Volt developer) Bob Lutz came to its spirited defense at Forbes.com with an article titled “The Real Story on GM’s Volt Costs”. One of the things he didn’t specifically address was sales. Not to put too fine a point on it, for the umpteenth time concerning the Volt, GM is playing fast and lose with the facts. GM is giving away rent-a-Volts. While the claim of 2800+ sales in August is certainly enough to still the Volt’s critics, at least until Election...

Here we go again. Déjà vu all over again as General Motors spreads rumors that they are tired of being Government Motors and they are so cash rich that they offered to buy Treasury's taxpayer-funded stake in the company. In typical deceptive GM fashion, sources were not named and spokesman Jim Cain refused to confirm the rumors. This is not the first time GM played the rumor game, as I previously wrote about over a year ago. Supposedly, GM wants to buy back about $5 billion of shares from Treasury, but Treasury just won't sell. No kidding. As if GM...

American Taxpayer's Loss on GM Stock Investment $14,601,905,416.80 Personally I had no idea how much we the people had lost in this "great investment" made for us by Obama.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The Treasury Department is resisting General Motors' push for the government to sell off its stake in the auto maker, The Wall Street Journal reports. Following a $50 billion bailout in 2009, the U.S. taxpayers now own almost 27% of the company. But the newspaper said GM executives are now chafing at that, saying it hurts the company's reputation and its ability to attract top talent due to pay restrictions. Earlier this year, GM GM -1.27% presented a plan to repurchase 200 million of the 500 million shares the U.S. holds with the balance being sold via...

A Reuters' article earlier this week created quite a buzz when it suggested that General Motors was losing $49,000 on every Chevy Volt sold. While many continue to debate just how much money GM loses on the politically-motivated car, a more important story on the Volt was reported by Automotive.com last week which explained the increase in August sales numbers for the vehicle. The piece exposes how GM (along with taxpayers) is heavily subsidizing leases and even gets an embarrassing admission from GM on the struggling Volt that, "The whole idea is we're creating a market." And this blockbuster,...

General Motors, the financially-strained U.S. automaker that absorbed billions of taxpayer dollars through the auto bailout, has secured a new deep-pocketed customer for its purportedly failed electric vehicle — the Chevy Volt. That customer is the Pentagon, which plans to make the federal government’s military operation more “environmentally-friendly” by reducing its use of fossil fuels with a conversion to electric vehicles. The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to purchase 1,500 models of the Volt, which has been burdened with lethargic sales and mounting losses since the automaker launched it in 2010. The Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California...

<p>General Motors sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line.</p> <p>Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.</p>

(Reuters) - General Motors Co sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line. Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts. GM on Monday issued a statement disputing the estimates. Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher.

We have heard the claims over and over again from the Obama campaign; the President "saved" General Motors and Mitt Romney said "let Detroit go bankrupt." The clear implication is that GM never went through the bankruptcy process that Romney suggested. Here's news for voters who didn't pay attention to how, exactly, Obama "saved" GM; $50 billion dollars of taxpayer money was given to GM to get them through a manipulated bankruptcy process. Replacing the word bankrupted with saved does not change the facts. And the fact is, GM DID go bankrupt. The media has not questioned the clearest example...

Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts. Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher. There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.

The Democratic National Convention continued to celebrate the General Motors' bankruptcy and auto bailouts last night. Guests at the party included union leaders Bob King, President of the UAW and AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, both of whom gave speeches at the event. Union members cheered and waved their UAW signs at the affair as President Obama was repeatedly given credit for "saving" GM and the American auto industry. The fact that GM, along with Chrysler, went bankrupt was not mentioned. The only time the word "bankrupt" was used was to condemn Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, for wanting to let...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cue "Fanfare for the Common Man" and rev up the Government Motors engines. Wednesday is Great American Auto Bailout Day at the Democratic National Convention. Party propagandists have prepared a prime-time-ready film touting the "rescue's" benefits for American workers. UAW President Bob King will sing the savior-in-chief's praises. But like all of the economic success stories manufactured by the White House, the $85 billion government handout is a big fat farce. "I said I believe in American workers, I believe in this American industry, and now the American auto industry has come roaring back," Obama bragged on...