Volt-Talking Obama Bets On Pick-Up Sales

The bailout of a Volt-producing GM was sold as an investment into a green future, a liberation from the terrorist-supporting Arabs. We have been fooled. The decisive turnaround of the company could be delivered by a new generation of big, gas-guzzling trucks. If successful, the trucks could help recover at least some of the money the tax payer sunk into GM. Forget the Volt. GM "is counting on muscled up, more refined versions of its lucrative Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks to show investors and car buyers the No. 1 U.S. automaker is back on the right track," says an in-depth Reuters article by its Detroit star reporter Ben Klayman. Full-size trucks and related SUVs generate profits of $12,000 or more per vehicle and account for about 60 percent of GM's global profit, analysts tell Reuters. The new models could bring more than $1 billion in additional operating earnings in 2013 and 2014. GM needs to invigorate its trucks badly. Their last major redesign was in 2006. The 2009 bankruptcy made GM fall behind on development. GM is estimated to have invested between $3 and $4 billion in developing the new trucks and revamping the plants where they are built. The market share of the Silverado/Sierra has been dropping for year, while the competition by Ford and Chrysler are gaining. |"Obama's bet on GM hangs on pickups boosting shares," says Bloomberg. According to the wire, "the U.S. may sell its remaining 32 percent stake in GM, a holdover from the 2009 rescue of the automaker, if the shares rise. The Treasury wants to sell for at least the $33 a share price it got in the IPO. It needs to sell for more than $50 for the U.S. to break even." Currently, GM trades at $25.63, but a pick-up in earnings from the pick-ups is still a while away. Trucks are shown today, but will not hit dealers before the second quarter of next year. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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