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GM reports biggest-ever automotive loss

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Old 2/12/08, 10:10 AM
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GM reports biggest-ever automotive loss

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23124844/

Old 2/12/08, 10:45 AM
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We pretty much knew this was coming given the 39 billion dollar loss they reported for the third quarter. But the fact that they cannot stay away from the buyouts doesn't bode well and smacks of desperation. Once or twice isn't really surprising, but continually running back to the well indicates that things may be going worse at GM than even they expected them to.
Old 2/12/08, 10:49 AM
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"GM was profitable in every region outside North America."

Sounds just like Ford....
Old 2/12/08, 11:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Laser98
"GM was profitable in every region outside North America."

Sounds just like Ford....
The difference is, Ford's losses keep getting smaller as they work their way back to profitability, while GM just reported the largest loss ever.
Old 2/13/08, 12:27 AM
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Call that article media spin. Here's a more realistic analysis >>

The interesting thing is that this record $38.7 billion loss that the automotive media's talking (too much) about is not at all attributable to GM's performance at selling cars and trucks around the world in 2007. Nearly all of it is the result of an accounting adjustment, which we explained in detail last November. It represents past losses that GM was legally allowed to wait to report and finally did in Q3 2007.

Regardless of the truth, sensational headlines that include the words "record loss" have been plastered across the interweb all day. Since it's too hard explaining how the tax system for large corporations works, Lutz instead pulls the old "bad news here, look over there" trick. He points out that GM was one of the few automakers to report a rise in sales last month at 2.1%. According to our By the Numbers calculations, GM was the only automaker with multiple brands to do so.

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Old 2/13/08, 12:31 AM
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Sounds pretty bad on the surface, but I still think GM is on the right track to both profitability and building quality cars. Ford is following, they are just a little bit behind right now.
Old 2/13/08, 05:06 AM
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Originally Posted by theedge67
Sounds pretty bad on the surface, but I still think GM is on the right track to both profitability and building quality cars. Ford is following, they are just a little bit behind right now.
An accurate assessment.

I suspect GM is further ahead because they got serious about turnaround earlier than Ford did, and because they're a much bigger company with deeper pockets and greater resources.
Old 2/13/08, 12:34 PM
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Exactly. Ford and GM are both on the same path, GM just started down that path about 1 year earlier than Ford did. GM got into trouble first, and started restructuring first. Ford followed, and is still behind for that reason only. They will both get there eventually.
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