Advanced Autozone

General Motors has a reasonable chance to become profitable this year, according to new Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell. In a recent interview with reporters at the Renaissance Center, Liddell discussed the efforts that GM is making to sell shares to become a publicly traded company.

The press meeting was a coming out party for Liddell, an ex-Microsoft executive who has kept a low media profile since being hired in December by Chairman and CEO Edward Whitacre.

Liddell is also viewed as the CEO-in-the-making by many analysts and is seen as someone who is focused on improving GM’s reputation and financial organization.

Read the rest of this entry »

Early last month, General Motors released a video of its engineers from Dept. 180 putting the Chevrolet Equinox through a test to ensure a quiet ride by filling a pressurized 2010 Chevrolet Equinox with smoke to look for leaks. Dept. 180 is back again and this time they are showing us how they put a vehicle through Climatic Wind Tunnel program where they test to see how vehicle behaves in hot and cold extreme conditions.
Read the rest of this entry »

General Motors’ former Saab brand may be safe under the new ownership of Spyker Cars L.V., but the Detroit automaker’s Hummer brand remains on shaky ground. GM has, in principle, agreed to sell its Hummer brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., but it looks as though the deal is grinding to a halt.

Although a contract has been in place between the two companies since October 2009, Tengzhong is having trouble navigating through China’s regulatory system in order to complete the acquisition of the Hummer brand. GM agreed to extend the expiration of the contract by one month in late January, but there has been no indication the deal will be finalized by the end of February.
Read the rest of this entry »

If the last couple of years weren’t crucial enough, Chrysler Group LLC’s new CEO Sergio Marchionne said yesterday that 2010 will be a very significant year to rebuild consumer confidence in the Auburn Hills automaker.
Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Liddell has been appointed General Motors vice chairman and chief financial officer, it was announced today. Liddell was most recently CFO for Microsoft Corp., a post he held since May 2005.

“Chris brings a depth and experience to this job that were unmatched in our search for a new financial leader,” said Ed Whitacre, GM chairman and CEO. “Chris will lead our financial and accounting operations on a global basis and will report directly to me. We’re also looking to his experience and insights in corporate strategy as a member of the senior leadership team in helping our restructuring efforts.”
Read the rest of this entry »