GM’s Henderson Press Conference Live Blog
12:15 pm: Conference call begins.
12:21 pm: GM remains open for business. Warranties will be honored. Part of the UAW agreement includes a provision to make a new car in the US.
12:22 pm: Magna MOU signed for Opel today. German government to provide $5 billion of DIP financing.
12:24 pm: The GM that let many of you down is history.
12:25 pm: We need to make sure all of our vehicles are world-class. The days of 15 launches where we hope five or six are OK are over. We need to make sure everyone of our vehicles is world-class.
12:28 pm: Q-Haven’t we heard this before? A-Turnarounds need good products and rebuilding of expense structure. We feel confident that we will be competitive from a cost perspective. We are getting the issues of the balance sheet behind us, so the leadership can spend their time on getting the product right.
12:30 pm: If I look at what my job is … I am personally a big believer of separating the chairman’s role and CEO’s role. …I am confident that it will work out just fine.
12:33 pm: The most important thing that needs to happen is that we need to move fast. Speed is of the essence. Not with a sense of urgency, but pure unadulterated speed.
12:37 pm: GM will have four core brands. The four brands will allow for better focus at GM. GMAC’s competitive products and services … very confident that GMAC can be a fantastic partner going forward. “Financial services to support that” is important.
12:40 pm: What we are doing is providing dealers options. For those dealer franchise we will not renew, we will allow for orderly wind down.
12:46 pm: Q-When will GM return to profitability? A-Priority is getting breakeven down to 10 million unit level on an EBIDTA basis. No timetable for that.
12:47 pm: Three bidders for Saab. Continue to support that sale process.
12:49 pm: We are expecting higher oil prices as the economy improves. I do think fuel economy will remain a key factor for consumers. CAFE — we view that as a watershed. Between demand and the requirements of the law, fuel efficiency [of GM vehicles] will improve.
1:03 p.m: Several questions about international operations, most of the answers of which are they will proceed as before the bankruptcy.
1:04 pm: Q-What will you do with incentives owed to dealers? A-Part of first-day motions. Henderson is not certain of the amount of incentives to be paid to dealers.
1:07 pm: US government’s DIP financing allowed for the bankruptcy.
1:09 pm: Restructuring plan based on 18% to 18.5% marketshare for GM going forward.
1:10 pm: Q-Will GM be there for Delphi? A-We need to support Delphi, we have been able to reach an exit for Delphi. This is something that has been going around the clock. We still have some ways to go.
