With $48 billion less debt and healthcare obligations, post-bankruptcy General Motors Co. is open for business today.
The “new” company will have four brands — Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC — and will be owned by the United Auto Workers’ union, and the U.S. and Canadian governments. The company plans to launch 10 vehicles in the U.S. in the next 18 months, and ratchet down the number of nameplates to 34 from 48.
With the 40-day bankruptcy proceedings complete, Ed Whitacre Jr., former chairman and chief executive of telecom giant AT&T, has taken his post as GM’s chairman. And CEO Fritz Henderson said the company could go public as soon as next year.
Meanwhile, the assets left behind — namely, pension and healthcare liabilities and the brands GM plans to shed — could take months or years to be sorted out in bankruptcy court.
A couple comments, JJ: First off, I think you’re right on the mark about the circular logic. I was wondering myself how the loans would be “recalled” if the money was spent.
As for pushing the problem on the President-elect’s plate — I don’t think that re-making the automakers is an issue that could have been resolved in a month. The auto industry’s problems, which run pretty deep at this point, along with the entire financial crisis we face right now, will certainly require a tremendous amount of attention from our new president.