GM to Washington: More money, please
The auto market's not showing signs of restarting anytime soon, and General Motors could soon run out of its $13 billion government loan. So today, GM execs return to Washington with a simple pitch. Jennifer Collins reports.
A GM sign on a steel beam above a highway (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
More on Auto Industry, America's Financial Crisis
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: General Motors is just one big cash-guzzler. It reported this morning that last quarter, it lost nearly $10 billion and blew through another $6 billion more. That means the automaker will have to go back to the federal trough looking for help. It's the latest blow for a company that just can't seem to get any traction. Here's Marketplace's Jennifer Collins.
Jennifer Collins: For all of last year, General Motors lost $30.9 billion.
Ray Wert: It's a huge number.
That's Ray Wert, editor-in-chief of the auto blog Jalopnik.com:
Wert: To say that it was unexpected would be fallacious. Anyone needs just take a look at the auto sales market and you can see that $30.9 billion is about right.
But the market's showing no signs of restarting anytime soon, and GM's well on its way to blowing through a $13 billion loan it took from the government last year. So today, its executives will be back in Washington with a rather simple pitch:
Wert: Please give us more money.
GM has asked for $30 billion in total aid, and the U.S. has until the end of next month to decide if it'll ante up.
I'm Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
Comments
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From pittsburgh, PA, 02/26/2009
i think we all see the writing on the wall. the big three havent been profitable for years, just like the american government. If I ran my own business like this do you think i would get a bail out? no I would get laughed at at the bank when i pleaded for more money to help pay my employees.
From Houston, TX, 02/26/2009
It's not that Gm doesn't have it's head on straight, it's the fact of the matter that Gm's Exec's are still being greedy and filling their own pockets first and foremost!
From Madison, 02/26/2009
Why can't GM get it's head on straight? The auto-market is not the same as it used to be; Ford, at least, has realized that and started to change their production numbers and model - as well as their car vs. truck vs. SUV focus.
All you have to do is listen to the Conversation from the Corner office to get that impression.
I'm no auto-industry expert, but does anyone else see this?
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