Mari probleme la GM

Oare sunt chiar asa mari probleme la GM?
Sper sa nu ajunga si in Europa.
Pentru cine are rabdare sa citeasca, nu am avut rabdare sa il traduc:

GM posts loss but sees sign of rebound in China
By Danny Hakim The New York Times
Thursday, April 21, 2005

DETROIT General Motors reported a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss, its worst quarterly performance since 1992, citing a stark reversal in its North American operations.
The company said on Tuesday that it was no longer certain enough of its outlook to provide earnings guidance for the year, backing away from the bleak revisions it made last month.
GM also said that profit in Asia plummeted in the first quarter but that there were signs of a rebound in China, the automaker's most important Asian market. Sales slumped by half in January and February.
The carmaker's Asian operations posted a profit of $60 million for the first quarter of this year. That was down from $275 million a year earlier, a decline GM attributed mainly to lower earnings in China and Japan.
GM also appeared to be inching toward a confrontation with the United Automobile Workers union over health care costs, which are expected to approach $6 billion this year. In explaining why it was not providing future earnings guidance, GM cited "uncertainty affecting key elements of our financial forecast, such as resolution of the health care cost crisis."
To several analysts, that appeared to be a message that GM would continue to seek concessions on health care from the unions. Last week, union leaders said they would not agree to sharp cuts in health benefits, though they did leave room for modest concessions. But modest steps may not satisfy GM executives. Asked whether GM was pressing for more, John Devine, the chief financial officer, said in an interview, "We don't negotiate in the press."
"All we're saying is this is a serious issue for us," Devine said. "The combination of lower volumes and increasing health care costs has put our North American business in a vise."
Devine also said that for the first time since 2001, GM might withdraw money from a $20 billion reserve set aside for retiree health care expenses as one way of paying the rising health costs. The reserve, which was established in the late 1990s, does not need to be repaid.
Union officials had no comment Tuesday.
But some analysts said that the company's emphasis on rising health care costs did not explain the vanishing earnings projections, which are driven by a more fundamental problem: fewer Americans are buying GM cars and trucks.
"We continue to focus on GM's market share and product," Robert Hinchliffe, an analyst at UBS, wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.
He added that, while GM "cites its health care cost crisis as a major source of uncertainty," it was not clear how health care cost projections could have changed so much this year.
GM's loss was in line with its profit warning on March 16 that led to a shake-up of its North American management and sent GM shares to a 12-year low last week. The report on Tuesday further concerned analysts because of the lack of earnings guidance and the negative cash flow of $3.5 billion in the quarter, leaving about $20 billion on its automotive balance sheet.
"That's not something we can do on a regular basis," Devine said of the company's cash exodus.
The $1.1 billion net loss, equal to $1.95 a share, was in contrast to a profit of $1.21 billion, or $2.12 a share, in the first quarter of 2004. Special items included charges for restructuring the troubled European operations and accelerated retirement packages offered to American white-collar workers. Excluding those, the company had an operating loss of $839 million, or $1.48 a share, in line with Wall Street estimates.
Those estimates have been dropping since GM's warning in March that 2005 operating earnings would be $1 to $2 a share, down from an estimate of $4 to $5. GM also said then that its operations would eat up $2 billion in cash instead of generating $2 billion.

e si in Ziarul Financiar de azi un articol pe tema asta.
Iar in primul nr. al Quattroruote -editia româna- scrie ca si-au luat la revedere de la Fiat (cam prin martie).
Ii lasa sa se descurce singuri....

Pentru reducerea costurilor propun deschiderea noilor uzine GM la Craiova !!!

du-i la Craiova sa mai strice ceva, parca nu ar ajunge cate au reusit sa distruga aia de la rio Del Praz
poate sa faca ceva fabrica sau linie de asamblare la Timisoara sau Brasov....