New GM 100 Days: Time Line

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New GM 100 Days: Time Line

June 1, 2009

• General Motors Corporation, the United States Treasury and the Canadian Government issue joint statements that General Motors Corporation will be voluntarily filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of state of New York.
• GM CEO Fritz Henderson hosts a press conference at the General Motors Building in New York City at 8:00 AM sharp to announced GM’s concurrent bankruptcy filing.
• GM Board of Directors, led by intern Chairman Kent Kresa stated,
• o “The General Motors Board of Directors authorized the filing of a chapter 11 case with regret that this path proved necessary despite the best efforts of so many. Today marks a new beginning for General Motors.”

June 2, 2009

• GM announces that they have reached a memorandum of understanding with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd to purchase the HUMMER brand.

June 3, 2009

• GM CEO Fritz Henderson gives an oral testimony regarding General Motors plans to terminate dealership contracts before the United States Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

June 5, 2009

• GM breaks news that they and Penske Automotive Group were working to come to deal for GM to sell the Saturn division to Penske.

June 9, 2009

• It is announced that Edward E. Whitacre Jr., former Chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. will become the new Chairman of the “New” General Motors once the company emerges from bankruptcy court. Whitacre stated in the announcement,
• o “I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention,"

June 16, 2009

• GM and Koenigsegg Group AB confirm that they are under a memorandum of understanding regarding the potential sale of GM’s Saab Automobile AB. They state the sale is to be complete by the end of the third quarter of this year.

June 25, 2009

• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber grants General Motors access to $33.3 Billion in Debtor in Possession (DIP) financing provided by the U.S Treasury and the Canadian and Ontario governments. DIP financing allows the company to operate while in court.

June 29, 2009

• General Motors issues the following statement regarding their joint-venture company, NUMMI, with Toyota;
• o “"As part of its long-term viability plan, General Motors has decided that its ownership stake in the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint venture with Toyota will not be a part of the 'New GM’. After extensive analysis, GM and Toyota could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that made sense for all parties.”

July 6, 2009

• After working during the holiday weekend, bankruptcy judge Robert Gerber approves the 363 Asset Sale to transfer all of former General Motors Corporation’s “good” assets to the new company called NGMCO, Inc. This is the most critical step in GM’s bankruptcy hearings.

July 10, 2009

• The all-new General Motors Company launches after a record-setting 40 days in chapter 11 bankruptcy. General Motors Company is a private entity owned by the U.S. Treasury, Canada and Ontario Governments and the UAW VEBA Trust.
• o "Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers," said Fritz Henderson, president and CEO.

July 23, 2009

• General Motors Company announces the appointment of five new members to the Board of Directors. They include: Carol Stephenson, Daniel Akerson, David Bonderman, Robert Krebs and Patricia Russo.
• GM announces the formation of the Executive Committee. The new committee is formed Chaired by Fritz Henderson with: Bob Lutz, Tom Stephens, Nick Reilly, Ray Young, Tim Lee, John Smith, Mark LaNeve and Bob Socia. The new committee will be responsible for the daily decision making of General Motors as well as all global product decisions.
• Also announced is the reconstruction of GM International Operations; moving its headquarters to Shanghai.

July 30, 2009

• In an effort to avoid supply interruptions, General Motors announces that they have formed a new wholly-owned subsidiary, GM Components Holding LLC that will be formed by them acquiring four Delphi facilities that are critical to GM’s operations.
• Another wholly-owned subsidiary, GM Global Steering Holdings LLC is formed by two former Delphi steering facilities.

August 4, 2009

• This marks the first meeting of the newly formed Board of Directors of General Motors Company.

August 6, 2009

• GM makes a surprise product announcement that Buick will be getting a version of the Saturn Vue crossover; including the proposed Plug-In Hybrid model. The announcement causes outrage in online communities.

August 10, 2009

• GM and Ebay announce a pilot buying program that allows customers to buy GM products from dealerships in California right on Ebay.com.
• GM hosts upwards of 100 bloggers and Twitter-users to a full tour of GM; including future product.

August 11, 2009

• After a week of viral advertising and speculation, GM makes the bombshell announcement that they anticipate the 2011 Chevrolet Volt to receive at least a 230 MPG city rating from the EPA when the car is launched.
• Directly after the Volt announcement, GM hosted the major automotive media to a two day event to see all of GM's future products and technologies.

August 13, 2009

• GM begins work at the new Brownstown Township, MI facility that will manufacture the Chevrolet Volt Lithium Ion battery pack. They announced the facility will be a $43 Million investment.

August 18, 2009

• Koenigsegg Group AB and General Motors announce they have signed an agreement to sell 100% of Saab Automobile AB stock to Koenigsegg. Koenigsegg Group AB is a consortium of private investors including Koenigsegg Automotive AB.
• Thanks to the government’s CARS (Cash for clunkers) program, GM announced plans to boost production by 60,000 units. The new production schedule has reinstated 1,350 jobs.

September 1, 2009

• Ebay and GM announce that they will be extending the “Click to Buy” program in California until the end of September.

September 10, 2009

• GM Board of Directors recommends that GM sell a majority stake in Adam Opel AG to Magna International. The transaction is meant to secure financial assistance from the German government.
• “May the best car win” promotional program starts. This allows customers up to 60-days to return their car if they so wish.

September 22, 2009

• GM announces it will add a third shift to the CAMI plant and Fairfax, KS to meet demand of the new Equinox, Terrain, and LaCrosse.

September 30, 2009

• In a bombshell announcement, GM learned that an impending deal with Penske Automotive Group to purchase the Saturn division fell through. GM stated that they will be winding down the Saturn brand entirely.

October 5, 2009

• GM surprises all by announcing that the Holden Statesman RWD car will be coming to the U.S. as the 2011 Chevrolet Caprice Police Car. No civilian version of the car is planned.

October 6, 2009

• Former GM partsmaker Delphi emerged from bankruptcy, leaving GM as the owner of former Delphi assets.

October 7, 2009

• GM announced that Vice President of U.S. Sales and Service, Mark LaNeve, had elected to leave the company. LaNeve accepted a VP of Marketing position at Allstate Insurance. Later in the day GM announced that current GMC-Buick General Manager Susan Docherty would be taking LaNeve's position.

October 9, 2009

• Cadillac announced that they would be looking for a new advertising agency.
• General Motors and Tengzhong announced that they had signed a tentative agreement regarding the sale of the Hummer brand.

October 14, 2009

• After meeting with Buick dealerships, GM announced that the next Buick sedan would be named Regal.

[Flyingbunnys]

August 10th was a failure...

[jamiepeterson2]

August 13 is a dubious milestone. I am a firm believer that the lithium battery manufacturing should take place alongside the Volt production line in Hamtramck. Why open another facility when you are already trying to close others?

BTW, GM still reeks from over-capacity (or gross under-utilization) of facilities. Only Pontiac MI (Silverado, Sierra), Wilmington DE (Solstice, Sky), Moraine OH (Trailblazer) and Shreveport LA (Colorado, Canyon) assembly plants are listed for sale on the Motors Liquidation site.

GM projects sales next year of 2.8 million vehicles. You only need 8 or 9 plants to accomplish that.
1. LORDSTOWN OH (Cruze)
2. FAIRFAX KS (Malibu)
3. OSHAWA ONT (Impala, Lacrosse, Camaro)
4. INGERSOL ONT (Equinox, Terrain)
5. LANSING DELTA MI (Traverse, Acadia, Enclave)
6. LANSING GRAND RIVER MI (Cadillac)
7. FORT WAYNE IN (Silverado, Sierra)
8. ORION MI (Spark, etc)
9. HAMTRAMCK MI (Volt, Converj, Provoq, small production)
10. BOWLING GREEN KY (Corvette, small production)

11. SPRING HILL TN is on stand-by

The following assembly plants seem to be unnecessary or do not fit the new direction GM is taking:
1. JANESVILLE WI (Silverado? Sierra?)
2. FLINT MI (Silverado? Sierra?)
3. OSHAWA ONT (Silverado? Sierra?)
4. ARLINGTON TX (Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade, "victims of CAFE regulations")
5. WENTZVILLE MO (Express, Savanna)
6. FREMONT CA (Vibe, history!)

GM needs one more Silverado/Sierra plant from above or it must increase production at Fort Wayne. Could the Colorado and Express manufacturing be moved to Spring Hill? Hmmm

Either way there is still too much plant capacity burdening GM's pocket books right now.

Another bone of contention, is that Buick-GMC only needs about 400 of its 1200-1800 dealers to peddle their wares. Otherwise, those dealer lots will end up being very sparsely populated and rapidly turn into a tragic nightmare for GM.

Overall, I would give Whitacre & Co a "C minus" grade. They have not fully thought out their business plan as of yet.

Furthermore, the big hits GM is enjoying at present (Camaro and Equinox) are a direct result of Rick Wagoner and Bob Lutz. Without their input, GM would be toast already.

[ByTheLake]

October 1, 2009: General Motors Company becomes General Motors, LLC.

(so, let's stop calling the new entity General Motors Company ... that's already history, too)

[ByTheLake]

Originally Posted by Flyingbunnys

August 10th was a failure...

It's great to see the company trying new things.

Not every new idea will succeed ... in fact, most new ideas will fail, but it's important to keep trying new things, and GM did just that.

I'd not necessarily classify the eBay experiment as a failure. GM learned from this, and has a better understanding of what the American consumer wants from an internet buying experience. (As opposed to Brazil, where a large percentage of vehicles are sold online.)

[armycam68]

GM is headed for failure.........why continue to advertise the return policy when only one car has been returned???? Why permit dealer ads to say " Buy a new Impala for $17,899.00" when an LTZ is over $30K........do these dummies realize what they are doing for residual value???
What we need are more cross-overs............with the same ugly Chevy face! Make them all in shades of gray like my dad's 48 Chevy! Toyota and Nissan will steal away TrailBlazer and Envoy sales...........
Fix the interiors in the new GM models.........the seats are horrible.......hard, small, etc.
Fix the consoles in the cars..........the new flow from the dash console gives you less leg room and I'm still waiting for decent cup holders.
And...........why do I need a computer on wheels to drive to the grocery store?
Make what people want...........GM should be a government owned company........they act just like the government buy doing as they please rather than trying to meet the needs of their customers!

[poncho1982]

Originally Posted by armycam68

GM is headed for failure.........why continue to advertise the return policy when only one car has been returned???? Why permit dealer ads to say " Buy a new Impala for $17,899.00" when an LTZ is over $30K........do these dummies realize what they are doing for residual value???
What we need are more cross-overs............with the same ugly Chevy face! Make them all in shades of gray like my dad's 48 Chevy! Toyota and Nissan will steal away TrailBlazer and Envoy sales...........
Fix the interiors in the new GM models.........the seats are horrible.......hard, small, etc.
Fix the consoles in the cars..........the new flow from the dash console gives you less leg room and I'm still waiting for decent cup holders.
And...........why do I need a computer on wheels to drive to the grocery store?
Make what people want...........GM should be a government owned company........they act just like the government buy doing as they please rather than trying to meet the needs of their customers!

Sorry they are not making what you want, but they are making what I want. (Camaro) (CTS) (LaCrosse)

They just fixed their interiors, consoles included, you want them to go backwards? This is what people complained about, bad interiors, thats fixed, and you are still not happy?

I do agree on the crossover thing though.

[Pinnacle]

June 9, 2009

* It is announced that Edward E. Whitacre Jr., former Chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. will become the new Chairman of the “New” General Motors once the company emerges from bankruptcy court. Whitacre stated in the announcement,
* o “I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention,"


Another terrible day

[armycam68]

Poncho et al...........You must be too young to realize that GM at one time made nice comfortable cars.
The new Camaro is a $39K toy.........the LaCross is a bloated overpriced sedan with seats that look like they belong in a school bus.
All of a sudden, Chevy.........America's car has failed to provide people with quality at a resonable price. Add comfort options on any Chevy and you are in Lexus land..............
We accept poor design, listen to ads that tell us how great things are.......but the the product is a best marginal!
I've owned over 50 GM vehicles from A Vega to a Corvette..........I think I've driven, bought, and suffered with GM.
I hope the new guy that sells telephones fixes GM..........

[Parlay84]

100 days isn't a milestone, just a good opportunity to put more "GM" in the press after exiting bankruptcy still being around 5 years later is more impressive. Not saying that they won't be here, but I'm saying 100 days is similar to taking the first baby step in an industry this large.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by armycam68

Poncho et al...........You must be too young to realize that GM at one time made nice comfortable cars.
The new Camaro is a $39K toy.........the LaCross is a bloated overpriced sedan with seats that look like they belong in a school bus.
All of a sudden, Chevy.........America's car has failed to provide people with quality at a resonable price. Add comfort options on any Chevy and you are in Lexus land..............
We accept poor design, listen to ads that tell us how great things are.......but the the product is a best marginal!
I've owned over 50 GM vehicles from A Vega to a Corvette..........I think I've driven, bought, and suffered with GM.
I hope the new guy that sells telephones fixes GM..........

The Camaro starts at $23k. Stop complaining, none of your arguments make any sense. Furthermore, quit trolling these boards.

[poncho1982]

Originally Posted by armycam68

Poncho et al...........You must be too young to realize that GM at one time made nice comfortable cars.
The new Camaro is a $39K toy.........the LaCross is a bloated overpriced sedan with seats that look like they belong in a school bus.
All of a sudden, Chevy.........America's car has failed to provide people with quality at a resonable price. Add comfort options on any Chevy and you are in Lexus land..............
We accept poor design, listen to ads that tell us how great things are.......but the the product is a best marginal!
I've owned over 50 GM vehicles from A Vega to a Corvette..........I think I've driven, bought, and suffered with GM.
I hope the new guy that sells telephones fixes GM..........

No, I would not call 38 too young to remember. Perhaps you have grown too big with age too be comfortable in a modern car?

Camaro is not a "toy" and it is very comfortable. I drove my friend's for the better part of the day this weekend. I was perfectly comfortable. (and awesome)

And, uh, MARGINAL? Thats a laugh!

Seriously, I think GM could survive without you. Go buy something else. Perhaps a used old GM, that you like.

As far as pricing, sorry, but thats par for the course now. Blame the Government and their safety regulations, and fuel economy standards for raising the price of vehicle to astronomical heights. Along with the hefty weight of new vehicles.

[armycam68]

The new Camaro is just a $39K toy.........when the base price is $23K........what makes an SS $16K better? The Camaro is worthless as a daily driver unless you are single, live with mom and dad, have an insurance premimum that's more than your car payment, and enjoy seats that rival those in a HUMVEE!
How many young guys want a Chevy? It's not a status symbol unless you are a redneck....BTW, real rednecks drive a truck.......most successful young boys and girls want a BMW or a Lexus, or an Infiniti to impress their a**ho*e friends.
Folks that have Camaro or Corvette money are baby boomers.........and they want something that is a performer and has a bit of comfort. They don't want to live their second childhood in a torcher chamber!
As for being a troll, well................if some of the GM folks had listened to trolls........they wouldn't have gone bankrupt. Most of the anti-trolls on this site.........are into rear wheel drive and cars they can't afford........a la CTS, SS2 Camaro, and a loaded LaCross.
Drive what you can afford...........GM's mission is to make a good car that people can afford!

[BlackGTP]

Originally Posted by armycam68

The new Camaro is just a $39K toy.........when the base price is $23K........what makes an SS $16K better? The Camaro is worthless as a daily driver unless you are single, live with mom and dad, have an insurance premimum that's more than your car payment, and enjoy seats that rival those in a HUMVEE!
How many young guys want a Chevy? It's not a status symbol unless you are a redneck....BTW, real rednecks drive a truck.......most successful young boys and girls want a BMW or a Lexus, or an Infiniti to impress their a**ho*e friends.
Folks that have Camaro or Corvette money are baby boomers.........and they want something that is a performer and has a bit of comfort. They don't want to live their second childhood in a torcher chamber!
As for being a troll, well................if some of the GM folks had listened to trolls........they wouldn't have gone bankrupt. Most of the anti-trolls on this site.........are into rear wheel drive and cars they can't afford........a la CTS, SS2 Camaro, and a loaded LaCross.
Drive what you can afford...........GM's mission is to make a good car that people can afford!

Obviously you don't like GM, so what draws you to this website?

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by BlackGTP

Obviously you don't like GM, so what draws you to this website?