Today the new General Motors is born

After the four-day regulatory period imposed by Judge Robert Gerber when he gave the green light to the sale of the group’s “good” assets, the carmaker today rises again as the “new General Motors”, ready to recover lost ground in the industry thanks to its restructuring and, of course, to the money contributed by the Governments of the United States and Canada and the United Auto Workers union, the UAW.

“Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow all employees, myself included, to once again design, build and sell great cars and trucks, and meet the needs of our customers,” said Fritz Henderson, GM’s chief executive. “We deeply appreciate the support we have received during this historic transformation, and we will work hard to live up to that trust by creating a new and successful General Motors.”

The bankruptcy, which lasted six weeks in total, has been a hard lesson for the American group, which promises that this new chapter will be characterised by a significant reduction in costs, improved internal efficiency, greater attention to the requests of customers (they even commit to holding visits in August to hear their ideas) and more direct communications. Meanwhile, GM is reduced to the four brands that survived the process, namely Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC, and all efforts of the new GM will be focused on them.

We remind you once again that the group’s shares will be distributed as follows:

• The United States Government’s Treasury Department will receive 60.8%.
• The UAW retiree health care trust fund will hold 17.5%.
  The Governments of

Canada and Ontario

• will receive 11.7%.
  The “old” General Motors

will retain

• 10%.
  
  Given the high level of public intervention, Fritz Henderson

has assured that the

transparency of operations will be strengthened to improve confidence, and that the $50 billion (almost €36 billion) lent by the United States Treasury in the form of loans will be repaid before the imposed deadline, which is 2015.

A new General Motors has emerged today, but it has required global sacrifices in the form of brands sold (Hummer, Opel and Saab) or eliminated (Pontiac), thousands of layoffs and numerous plants and dealerships closed. Let us hope the future looks brighter for this second chance of the American group.

Source | General Motors