Chrysler today paid back $5.9 billion it had borrowed from the U.S. government, along with another $1.7 billion due to the governments of Ontario and Canada. No, Chrysler isn’t suddenly flush from selling cars. The money to pay back the governments comes from bonds the automaker sold to banks and private investors last week. [More]
autopocalypse
Car Dealerships Feebly Fight Back Against Bankrupt Automakers
As GM’s bankruptcy looms, let’s take a look at what might be in store for its network of dealerships. Chrysler dealers are understandably angry at the company’s shutting down of dealerships, refusal to take back unsold inventory, and general inability to, in the words of Jon Stewart, “be a f@#king person.” Or ethically behaving corporate entity, whatevs.
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On Sunday, a judge approved the sale of nearly all of Chrysler’s assets to a group led by Italy-based Fiat. [BBC]
GM Files For Bankruptcy Today
After failing to get its debt-for-stock offer approved last week, and missing the June 1st deadline for concessions from creditors and its union, GM will file for bankruptcy later today. Reuters notes that its filing will be the third-largest in U.S. history, after Lehman Bros and Washington Mutual, and the largest ever in manufacturing.