[sgarnett]

The Senate, UAW, et al, just gave up (ie failed) on reaching a compromise a few minutes ago.

I don't know how GM will come out after bankruptcy (they just hired the bankruptcy lawyer), but the stock market futures are looking ugly tonight. It actually held up well through some dismal recent employment numbers, but I suspect tomorrow is gonna be ugly. Rebuilding my retirement is going to mean austerity and no new cars for a very long time, and I suspect that will be true for many others. That can't be good for any automaker.

I'll admit I wasn't convinced that bridge loans to March could solve the problems for GM, so I don't claim to know what the right answer was. Nevertheless, this is going to be a big kick in the teeth for the economy.

This post has been edited by sgarnett: Dec 12 2008, 04:07 AM

[trackbird]

From my local news:

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/business/...da.html?sid=102

Honda Cuts Top Salaries, Slashes Profit Forecast
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 3:04 AM



TOKYO — Japanese automaker Honda slashed its profit forecast for the fiscal year Wednesday and announced that managers will take a 10 percent pay cut amid a global downturn in the auto industry.
President Takeo Fukui blamed the revisions on declining demand set off by the U.S. financial crisis and the nose-diving dollar, which has recently fallen to 13-year lows against the yen.

Japan's second-biggest automaker now expects 185 billion yen ($2.06 billion) in group net profit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. That's less than a third of the 600 billion yen it earned last fiscal year.

Tokyo-based Honda has already twice revised its forecast, the latest in October when it said it expected 485 billion yen in profit.

"Every day, the hardships we face are getting worse and worse. And there are no signs of recovery," Fukui said at a news conference that was hastily moved up two days from the initial schedule.

Fukui said the automaker will focus on green technology, especially hybrids and small cars, to ride out the difficult times and prepare for recovery in the long run.

Until recent months, Honda had avoided the woes of its cash-strapped U.S. rivals, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, which are asking for a government bailout.

Like other Japanese manufacturers, Honda makes models such as the Civic and Accord, which have a reputation for fuel-efficiency. Such products had been relatively popular amid surging gas prices.

But the recent drop in auto sales is proving too much for even Honda. In November, when U.S. auto sales plunged 37 percent to their worst level in more than 26 years, and Honda's vehicle sales sank 32 percent from the same month a year ago.