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Topic: EU

GM: not doing well, but going back to the well anyway

Summary: GM seeks another bailout, from Europe.

Harry Fuller

By Harry Fuller for GreenTech Pastures |

General Motors tried to sell Opel. No deal. So now GM is asking for almost $5 billion dollars, less than 4 billion Euros, to restructure Opel and the rest of its European operations. Will the EU put up the cash?

I blogged recently about GM using its Volt tech to put some electric spark into other GM brands, including stodgy Opel. The Volt, a GM plug-in, is due to launch in the U.S. in about one year.

Topic: EU

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8 comments
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  • Why not?

    Government Motors is like most of our governments these days, propped up with fake money and phony paper. I am sure the EU can do like we do and just print more money to keep GM afloat for another day. After all, its only paper, right?
    itpro_z
    Reply Vote

    • More paper needed!

      If you were to put a value on $1 dollar.

      It would be NEGATIVE $1,000,000 most likely.

      No value, it is all smoke & mirrors, there is no value on a dollar because it is NOT backed.

      linux_kernel
      Reply Vote

      • Excuse me, but the dollar IS backed

        By a gold standard kept by the government. It is
        backed, period and done with.
        And, other countries money.... no better and no
        worse backed than ours is in most cases.
        Lerianis10
        Reply Vote

        • I don't think that's entirely accurate.

          Didn't we come off the gold standard, where a dollar was literally good for a dollar's worth of gold, in the late 30's, and then move to the Federal Reserve note, which is worth zip in hard assets, in the 70's?
          Hallowed are the Ori
          Reply Vote

        • You're joking, right?

          The last vestiges of the gold standard were eliminated by Richard Nixon in 1971. Since then, gold has been free to fluctuate in price relative to the dollar. Right now, gold is hovering around $1165 per ounce, with some predictions that it will top $2000 per ounce as our dollar goes down the toilet from out of control government spending.
          itpro_z
          Reply Vote

      • Not to mention presses

        From what I hear, we are borrowing money from China, then printing cash to pay off the loans. The result will be to devalue our dollars, which will increase the governments take from taxes, decreasing the deficits.

        Didn't Bernie Madoff get in trouble for doing pretty much the same thing?
        itpro_z
        Reply Vote

        • Naww...

          Compared to the Feds, Madoff was a rank amateur.

          Hallowed are the Ori
          Reply Vote

  • GM did NOT try to sell Opel

    GM did not try to sell Opel. They had buyers, more than one. Selling it would have been easy. The German government was all in favour of it, bending over backwards to help facilitate a deal. What GM did instead was try to avoid selling Opel. Their refusal has gotten the Germans very upset with them.

    And now they're going to ask the Europeans for more money? I would avoid being anywhere nearby when they speak to Chancelor Merkel. No telling how far the shrapenl will fall. She might just give them an ultimatum. "We'll give the hand out to who ever buys Opel from you."

    mheartwood
    Reply Vote
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