2010-08-10 03:58:58frank
GM從破產保護到即將重新掛牌上市
就在中國成為全世界最大汽車市場後，GM在中國銷售量也迅速成長，甚至在中國賣出比美國本土更多汽車。這個十三個月前還在破產保護的公司可望在年底前重新掛牌上市，或許GM應該考慮在中國上市，有48.5%的成長率，加上如果有問題的話美國政府一定會援助GM，所有中國的投資人應該都很有信心。
There is not a company of such a scale here in Taiwan. In fact, with the size like GM, there are only few can match in the world. However, I have been wondering if it was easy to salvage a big corporation.
I used to talk to few coworkers about this kind of issues when I myself also worked in a big corp. We found as long as the company started to lay off people, shut down few plants (selling to others), contracting out some jobs, and put traveling restriction, soon the deficit could be removed and all the numbers became healthy and beautiful again. What am I trying to say here? ---- There were always plenty of redundance, inefficiency, unnecessary traveling in any big corporation. And most likely, the management knew that well, but the management was usually part of beneficiaries of such redundance, inefficiency or unnecessary traveling. I am not sure if this is the case in GM, but I think most likely it's more or less the same there. So we usually saw that a big corp hired a new guy from outside to become the CEO, then lay-off, shut down production plants ...etc. Then few quarters later, the company turned out to be an energetic and competitive one, tech companies and those in conventiornal industries are alike. I think this could be understood as "agency problem" as well.
洗刷GM惡名 通用擬拋售700億美元股權
不想當Government Motors 籲政府出脫61%持股
2010年08月07日蘋果日報
【陳智偉╱綜合外電報導】通用汽車（General Motors，GM）擬在下周公布第2季財報後，擇時重新申請掛牌上市，若按管理層意願一口氣賣出所有流通股權，規模上看700億美元（2.23兆元台幣）以上，將是美國史上最大規模售股案。
由於通用脫離破產保護不久，仍有待時日重建投資人信心，市場多預期通用將分批售股，但通用執行長惠塔克（Ed Whitacre）信心滿滿地說：「我們希望將全數股權一次售出。」
惠塔克並呼籲美國政府一口氣出脫手中61%股權，讓通用回歸私有自由之身，洗刷「政府專用」汽車（Government Motors，縮寫也是GM）污名。他說：「我們不想被當作『政府專用』汽車公司，我們要官股退出。」
8月下旬申請掛牌
在美國政府入股下，通用汽車產品遭到消費者訕笑歧視，而官股比率超過6成，也將讓投資人視持有通用股票為畏途。
惠塔克不願證實重新掛牌上市時間點，僅表示會在下周財報公布後擇時啟動，時間點愈快愈好。美國汽車工人聯合工會領袖金恩上周透露，通用將在8月第3周重新申請掛牌上市。
不過，通用何時重新上市、出售股權數量，不是管理層說了算，通用發言系統稍晚特別澄清最後決定權掌握在股東手裡，包括先前金援通用的美、加政府，以及工會健保基金、前通用債券持有者。
文藝復興資本（Renaissance Capital）投資公司基金經理人齊里安認為，通用若選擇大規模招股，售股定價勢必受供給量大壓抑，加上目前市況不利售股，建議延後時間表，並採分批方式售股，待營運績效獲得市場肯定後，可以賣得更好價錢。
福特貸款擔保通過
通用去年3月聲請破產保護，並接受美國政府紓困貸款500億美元（1.59兆元台幣）。通用償還67億美元（2132億元台幣）後，其餘欠款轉換為股權由美國政府持有，若如願將流通股權一次完售，足以清償政府紓困貸款還有餘。
另一方面，美國總統歐巴馬（Barack Obama）誓言絕不背棄汽車業勞工，確定將透過進出口銀行提供福特（Ford）2.5億美元（80億元台幣）貸款擔保，協助其出口逾20萬輛汽車至加拿大、墨西哥，進一步推動他5年倍增美國出口政見，創造車廠就業機會。
http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32719290/IssueID/20100807
美汽車銷量 上月大增5%
【經濟日報╱編譯彭淮棟、賴美君／綜合外電】
2010.08.05 02:29 am
受惠於消費者支出回溫與商業用汽車銷售攀升，美國7月汽車整體銷售較6月大增5.1%，尤以日產汽車（Nissan）與現代汽車（Hyundai）表現最亮眼。
根據汽車資料公司（Autodata）統計，美國7月汽車銷售年比增加5.1%至104.9輛，年化後銷售為1,198萬輛，優於6月的1,108萬輛，和去年同期的1,124萬輛，5.1%的增幅是2008年9月來第二高，略低於2009年8月政府「舊車換現金」方案激勵的高點。
雖然美國就業持續疲弱，經濟復甦前景令人擔心，但汽車大廠的7月銷售大多優於6月。車廠優渥的盛夏促銷方案是推動車市的一大動力。汽車資訊專業網站 Edmunds.com指出，消費者已習於該為夏天是買車的好時機。現代汽車7月銷售較去年同期激增19%至5.01萬輛，創下歷年該月銷售的最高紀錄，日產汽車也遽增15%。Tucson與Sonata新車款激勵現代全車系買氣，而去年創下銷售佳績的日產核心產品，也備受零售消費者青睞。
飽受召修風波衝擊的豐田汽車7月銷售較去年同期下跌3.2%，但比6月激增20%。去年夏天美國政府的「舊車換現金」方案鼓勵車主換省油的小車，帶動豐田小型車大發利市。
底特律三大車廠方面，通用汽車（GM）7月銷售較6月上升2.6%，也比去年同期增加5%。旗下四大品牌（雪佛蘭、別克、GMC、凱迪拉克）銷售比去年同期勁增25%，其中別克和凱迪拉克增加一倍以上。新車款雪佛蘭Camaro、雪佛蘭Equinox、別克LaCrosse和凱迪拉克SRX都強勁成長。
年初以來業績一路發的福特（Ford）7月銷售和6月持平，但較去年同期上升3%。福特車款表現不錯，但不足以抵消Mercury的跌勢，豪華車系林肯也重挫16%。福特已決定年底停產Mercury，林肯則明年也走向歷史。
克萊斯勒7月銷售比上月增加1%，比一年前則增加5%。新款Jeep Grand Cherokee銷售較去年同期激增54%，Ram貨卡車系則成長14%。
http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR6/5767048.shtml
通用汽車 買下AmeriCredit
【經濟日報╱編譯吳國卿／綜合外電】
2010.07.23 02:24 am
通用汽車公司（GM）22日宣布，將以35 億美元收購汽車融資業者AmeriCredit公司，以強化通用的汽車貸款和租賃業務。
這樁交易將使通用再度擁有自營的汽車融資部門；通用自2006年出售通用汽車金融公司（GMAC）後，一直是美國唯一沒有自營金融部門的大車廠。
通用認為這樁收購有助於提振銷售，尤其是該公司計畫最快秋季再度公開發行股票。
根據交易，通用將支付AmeriCredit股東每股24.50美元，以直接擁有該公司。收購交易傳出後，AmeriCredit股價22日早盤在紐約股市暴漲4.35美元，成為每股24.05美元，漲幅22%。
通用財務長財務長李岱爾說：「這是對首次公開發行股票（IPO）有利的另一塊積木。它讓我們以相當有限的資本投資，進入一個獲利潛力極大的領域。」
汽車公司可利用融資部門提供信用，藉以提振汽車銷售。通用汽車若沒有融資部門，就無法以租賃交易來招徠顧客，也無法以較低的利率提供買家貸款。
李岱爾說，租賃占通用汽車業務7%，遠低於業界平均21%的水準。
約4%的通用買主為次級信用戶，而美國消費者中的次級信用戶則高達40%。
李岱爾指出，AmerCredit占通用汽車銷售的比率不會超過10%，但這項業務能讓通用獲得以前無法爭取的顧客。通用將繼續與其他銀行建立關係，以使顧客更容易取得貸款。根據交易，AmeriCredit也將繼續為其他汽車製造商提供購車貸款。
熟悉內情人士說，通用汽車不久前曾考慮買回以前的融資部門GMAC，但現在改名為Ally金融公司的GMAC不感興趣。
GMAC在2008年的經濟危機後大舉緊縮汽車放款，嚴重影響通用銷售，埋下通用破產的伏筆。
福特汽車和豐田汽車因為都有自營的融資部門，在不景氣期間能提供低廉的貸款和租賃給顧客。
李岱爾說，收購AmeriCredit的洽談始於一個月前，通用之前就與這家公司有往來，去年雙方協議利用政府的購車現金獎勵提供貸款給次級信用戶。通用表示，已經與持有61%股權的美國財政部商量過這樁交易。
http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR2/5741560.shtml
July 21, 2010
G.M., Eclipsed at Home, Soars to Top in China
By DAVID BARBOZA and NICK BUNKLEY
SHANGHAI — A decade ago, this city had five car dealerships selling Buicks, the top-selling General Motors brand in China. Today it has 27.
And the crowds of shoppers that fill many of them are young, ready to pay cash and not inclined to haggle over the sticker price.
As G.M. prepares a public stock offering later this year, China is emerging as a crucial piece of its appeal to potential investors — and a surprising down payment of sorts for American taxpayers, who would begin shrinking their 61 percent equity stake in the company.
In the first half of this year, G.M.’s China sales rose 48.5 percent over the same period last year, and for the first time ever, the automaker sold more vehicles in China than in the United States. Just 13 years after entering China, G.M. now says the country accounts for a quarter of its global sales — blistering growth that even G.M. did not expect this soon.
“China’s a big piece of the value of the company,” said Stephen J. Girsky, G.M.’s vice chairman for corporate strategy and business development. “And since we pull cash out of China, it helps fund investments in other parts of the company as well.”
Analysts estimate G.M. is worth $50 billion to $90 billion, with China accounting for about $15 billion of that total. The United States government converted about $43 billion of aid to G.M. into its equity stake, which is expected to be sold off over time after the company is publicly traded. A valuation above $70 billion or so would allow the government to earn a profit on its stake.
Through joint ventures with China’s S.A.I.C. Motor Corporation and other local manufacturers, G.M. is this country’s largest vehicle manufacturer, accounting for about 13 percent of the nation’s fragmented car market. Its product line aims to cover the broad spectrum of needs, like the $5,000 Wuling Sunshine, a barebones minivan wildly popular in rural areas, and the luxurious Cadillacs that can be seen in the wealthy neighborhoods of Beijing.
This week, G.M. announced plans to create a seventh brand to sell small passenger cars. In the United States, G.M. is down to just four brands, after shedding Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer during its bankruptcy.
“This is not some sort of flash-in-the-pan investment strategy,” said Michael Robinet, an analyst with the research firm IHS Automotive. “During the bankruptcy process, G.M. China was the beacon in the night that G.M. always had in its back pocket, and China will be a vital cog in G.M.’s machine going forward.”
G.M. said it earned about $400 million from its China joint ventures in the first quarter of this year, when it earned a total of $1.2 billion outside of North America and Europe. Its total corporate profit for the quarter was $865 million because of losses and other costs elsewhere.
While GM’s fast-growing China operations are helping to offset the automaker’s problems in the United States, it ultimately will need to do better on its home turf to restore its financial health. On that score, G.M. earned a first-quarter profit of $1.2 billion in North America, after losing $3.4 billion the previous quarter, but its market share in the United States so far this year is down from 2009. Analysts said G.M.’s overall prospects still hinge more than anything else on its North American operations being healthy, because that is where it can generate the most income.
The company’s success in China has been helped by the fact that Chinese consumers do not have the skepticism about G.M. that is commonly seen in the United States. In China, many shoppers know little about cars and go to a dealer for guidance.
“What we offer is accepted at face value,” said Kevin Wale, the president of G.M. China. “We don’t carry any baggage, basically. We get treated for what we deliver.”
G.M. officials say no American taxpayer money has been used to expand in China, though a Chinese government stimulus program that encouraged sales of clean vehicles and helped farmers and other rural residents buy vehicles has fueled consumer demand here.
Buick is the company’s star. Favored by China’s last emperor, Buick is perceived as sumptuous and stylish, a contrast with its staid image among many Americans. G.M. sold nearly half a million Buicks here last year, almost five times the brand’s sales in the United States.
“I was so fascinated by the shape of this car,” said Xu Tianpei, who bought a Buick Regal at the Yongda dealership in Shanghai for 230,000 renminbi ($34,000), including taxes and insurance. “
Shen Hui, the general manager at the Shanghai Yongda Buick dealership, said discounted prices were a rarity because of the psychology of the Chinese car market, which for many years evolved around scarcity.
“People will not buy if the price is discounted because they think it will fall even further later on,” he said. “But when there is no discount and tight supply, they will worry that there won’t be any cars left.”
G.M. expects to sell more than three million cars and trucks in China annually by 2015; from January to June of this year it sold 1.2 million vehicles, versus 1.08 million in the United States. G.M.s sales in China in the first half of 2010 were quadruple those of the Ford Motor Company.
G.M. has been a part of the American industrial landscape for more than a century, but it has been in China only since 1997.
Still, that was early in the development of China’s consumer market for cars and trucks, which has given G.M. an advantage over rivals that only began arriving after it became clear how quickly demand was rising.
G.M. has for years been heavily focused on investing in China and other emerging markets, and it has been introducing some vehicles, like the Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Cruze sedans, in China before the United States and other countries.
In addition, G.M. has greatly enlarged its engineering and design work force in China. It is building the country’s largest proving grounds and broke ground this week on a $250 million advanced technology center to research batteries and other alternative energy sources.
G.M.’s hourly work force in China has grown to 32,000 people at 10 factories, including its joint ventures, while its American operations have shrunk to 52,000 hourly employees from a peak of 468,000 in 1979.
Tim Dunne, director of global automotive operations at the research firm J. D. Power & Associates, said China’s huge population did not guarantee success for automakers but that G.M. had been done well because of its focus on meeting consumers’ tastes.
“You’re talking about one of the most competitive markets in the world,” Mr. Dunne said. “They’ve surpassed my expectations. They marshaled resources into China and made sure they did it the right way.”
Mr. Wale, the president of G.M. China, admittedly has very different concerns from his counterparts in Detroit. As the company’s sales were falling 30 percent in the United States in 2008 and 2009, they were surging 67 percent in China.
But while rapid growth is the better of the two problems to have, the consequences of any missteps in China can reverberate throughout G.M. worldwide.
“If you’re not ready and you miss the market growth, then you miss it for a long time,” Mr. Wale said.
David Barboza reported from Shanghai and Nick Bunkley from Detroit. Bao Beibei contributed research.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/global/22auto.html?scp=1&sq=GM,%20China,%2048.5%&st=cse
There is not a company of such a scale here in Taiwan. In fact, with the size like GM, there are only few can match in the world. However, I have been wondering if it was easy to salvage a big corporation.
I used to talk to few coworkers about this kind of issues when I myself also worked in a big corp. We found as long as the company started to lay off people, shut down few plants (selling to others), contracting out some jobs, and put traveling restriction, soon the deficit could be removed and all the numbers became healthy and beautiful again. What am I trying to say here? ---- There were always plenty of redundance, inefficiency, unnecessary traveling in any big corporation. And most likely, the management knew that well, but the management was usually part of beneficiaries of such redundance, inefficiency or unnecessary traveling. I am not sure if this is the case in GM, but I think most likely it's more or less the same there. So we usually saw that a big corp hired a new guy from outside to become the CEO, then lay-off, shut down production plants ...etc. Then few quarters later, the company turned out to be an energetic and competitive one, tech companies and those in conventiornal industries are alike. I think this could be understood as "agency problem" as well.
洗刷GM惡名 通用擬拋售700億美元股權
不想當Government Motors 籲政府出脫61%持股
2010年08月07日蘋果日報
【陳智偉╱綜合外電報導】通用汽車（General Motors，GM）擬在下周公布第2季財報後，擇時重新申請掛牌上市，若按管理層意願一口氣賣出所有流通股權，規模上看700億美元（2.23兆元台幣）以上，將是美國史上最大規模售股案。
由於通用脫離破產保護不久，仍有待時日重建投資人信心，市場多預期通用將分批售股，但通用執行長惠塔克（Ed Whitacre）信心滿滿地說：「我們希望將全數股權一次售出。」
惠塔克並呼籲美國政府一口氣出脫手中61%股權，讓通用回歸私有自由之身，洗刷「政府專用」汽車（Government Motors，縮寫也是GM）污名。他說：「我們不想被當作『政府專用』汽車公司，我們要官股退出。」
8月下旬申請掛牌
在美國政府入股下，通用汽車產品遭到消費者訕笑歧視，而官股比率超過6成，也將讓投資人視持有通用股票為畏途。
惠塔克不願證實重新掛牌上市時間點，僅表示會在下周財報公布後擇時啟動，時間點愈快愈好。美國汽車工人聯合工會領袖金恩上周透露，通用將在8月第3周重新申請掛牌上市。
不過，通用何時重新上市、出售股權數量，不是管理層說了算，通用發言系統稍晚特別澄清最後決定權掌握在股東手裡，包括先前金援通用的美、加政府，以及工會健保基金、前通用債券持有者。
文藝復興資本（Renaissance Capital）投資公司基金經理人齊里安認為，通用若選擇大規模招股，售股定價勢必受供給量大壓抑，加上目前市況不利售股，建議延後時間表，並採分批方式售股，待營運績效獲得市場肯定後，可以賣得更好價錢。
福特貸款擔保通過
通用去年3月聲請破產保護，並接受美國政府紓困貸款500億美元（1.59兆元台幣）。通用償還67億美元（2132億元台幣）後，其餘欠款轉換為股權由美國政府持有，若如願將流通股權一次完售，足以清償政府紓困貸款還有餘。
另一方面，美國總統歐巴馬（Barack Obama）誓言絕不背棄汽車業勞工，確定將透過進出口銀行提供福特（Ford）2.5億美元（80億元台幣）貸款擔保，協助其出口逾20萬輛汽車至加拿大、墨西哥，進一步推動他5年倍增美國出口政見，創造車廠就業機會。
http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32719290/IssueID/20100807
CNBC：奧巴馬將向納稅人全額退還GM救援款項
8月6日頭條刊文《奧巴馬將向納稅人全額退還GM救援款項》，全文摘要如下：
美國總統奧巴馬周四在接受CNBC訪談時表示，曾經破產的通用汽車公司將在今年晚些時候通過首次公開募股重新上市，到那時政府援助GM時所耗費的款項將被全額退還給美國納稅人。
在去年，美國政府在通用汽車公司和克萊斯勒公司（Chrysler）破產後，共向兩家公司提供了600億美元的政府援助金，幫助兩家公司進行了破產重組。
奧巴馬表示，隨著時間的推移，越來越多的救援資金將會退還給納稅人。通用和克萊斯勒已經實現了六年來的首次盈利，而且汽車行業在他上任的前一年減少30萬就業崗位後，已經創造了5.50萬就業機會。
奧巴馬今天是在福特組裝廠對工人發表講話後，接受CNBC採訪的。奧巴馬上周訪問了通用汽車公司和克萊斯勒的工廠，在那裡他對美國政府在2008年對這些公司進行的救助進行了辯護。
美汽車銷量 上月大增5%
【經濟日報╱編譯彭淮棟、賴美君／綜合外電】
2010.08.05 02:29 am
受惠於消費者支出回溫與商業用汽車銷售攀升，美國7月汽車整體銷售較6月大增5.1%，尤以日產汽車（Nissan）與現代汽車（Hyundai）表現最亮眼。
根據汽車資料公司（Autodata）統計，美國7月汽車銷售年比增加5.1%至104.9輛，年化後銷售為1,198萬輛，優於6月的1,108萬輛，和去年同期的1,124萬輛，5.1%的增幅是2008年9月來第二高，略低於2009年8月政府「舊車換現金」方案激勵的高點。
雖然美國就業持續疲弱，經濟復甦前景令人擔心，但汽車大廠的7月銷售大多優於6月。車廠優渥的盛夏促銷方案是推動車市的一大動力。汽車資訊專業網站 Edmunds.com指出，消費者已習於該為夏天是買車的好時機。現代汽車7月銷售較去年同期激增19%至5.01萬輛，創下歷年該月銷售的最高紀錄，日產汽車也遽增15%。Tucson與Sonata新車款激勵現代全車系買氣，而去年創下銷售佳績的日產核心產品，也備受零售消費者青睞。
飽受召修風波衝擊的豐田汽車7月銷售較去年同期下跌3.2%，但比6月激增20%。去年夏天美國政府的「舊車換現金」方案鼓勵車主換省油的小車，帶動豐田小型車大發利市。
底特律三大車廠方面，通用汽車（GM）7月銷售較6月上升2.6%，也比去年同期增加5%。旗下四大品牌（雪佛蘭、別克、GMC、凱迪拉克）銷售比去年同期勁增25%，其中別克和凱迪拉克增加一倍以上。新車款雪佛蘭Camaro、雪佛蘭Equinox、別克LaCrosse和凱迪拉克SRX都強勁成長。
年初以來業績一路發的福特（Ford）7月銷售和6月持平，但較去年同期上升3%。福特車款表現不錯，但不足以抵消Mercury的跌勢，豪華車系林肯也重挫16%。福特已決定年底停產Mercury，林肯則明年也走向歷史。
克萊斯勒7月銷售比上月增加1%，比一年前則增加5%。新款Jeep Grand Cherokee銷售較去年同期激增54%，Ram貨卡車系則成長14%。
http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR6/5767048.shtml
通用汽車 買下AmeriCredit
【經濟日報╱編譯吳國卿／綜合外電】
2010.07.23 02:24 am
通用汽車公司（GM）22日宣布，將以35 億美元收購汽車融資業者AmeriCredit公司，以強化通用的汽車貸款和租賃業務。
這樁交易將使通用再度擁有自營的汽車融資部門；通用自2006年出售通用汽車金融公司（GMAC）後，一直是美國唯一沒有自營金融部門的大車廠。
通用認為這樁收購有助於提振銷售，尤其是該公司計畫最快秋季再度公開發行股票。
根據交易，通用將支付AmeriCredit股東每股24.50美元，以直接擁有該公司。收購交易傳出後，AmeriCredit股價22日早盤在紐約股市暴漲4.35美元，成為每股24.05美元，漲幅22%。
通用財務長財務長李岱爾說：「這是對首次公開發行股票（IPO）有利的另一塊積木。它讓我們以相當有限的資本投資，進入一個獲利潛力極大的領域。」
汽車公司可利用融資部門提供信用，藉以提振汽車銷售。通用汽車若沒有融資部門，就無法以租賃交易來招徠顧客，也無法以較低的利率提供買家貸款。
李岱爾說，租賃占通用汽車業務7%，遠低於業界平均21%的水準。
約4%的通用買主為次級信用戶，而美國消費者中的次級信用戶則高達40%。
李岱爾指出，AmerCredit占通用汽車銷售的比率不會超過10%，但這項業務能讓通用獲得以前無法爭取的顧客。通用將繼續與其他銀行建立關係，以使顧客更容易取得貸款。根據交易，AmeriCredit也將繼續為其他汽車製造商提供購車貸款。
熟悉內情人士說，通用汽車不久前曾考慮買回以前的融資部門GMAC，但現在改名為Ally金融公司的GMAC不感興趣。
GMAC在2008年的經濟危機後大舉緊縮汽車放款，嚴重影響通用銷售，埋下通用破產的伏筆。
福特汽車和豐田汽車因為都有自營的融資部門，在不景氣期間能提供低廉的貸款和租賃給顧客。
李岱爾說，收購AmeriCredit的洽談始於一個月前，通用之前就與這家公司有往來，去年雙方協議利用政府的購車現金獎勵提供貸款給次級信用戶。通用表示，已經與持有61%股權的美國財政部商量過這樁交易。
http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR2/5741560.shtml
July 21, 2010
G.M., Eclipsed at Home, Soars to Top in China
By DAVID BARBOZA and NICK BUNKLEY
SHANGHAI — A decade ago, this city had five car dealerships selling Buicks, the top-selling General Motors brand in China. Today it has 27.
And the crowds of shoppers that fill many of them are young, ready to pay cash and not inclined to haggle over the sticker price.
As G.M. prepares a public stock offering later this year, China is emerging as a crucial piece of its appeal to potential investors — and a surprising down payment of sorts for American taxpayers, who would begin shrinking their 61 percent equity stake in the company.
In the first half of this year, G.M.’s China sales rose 48.5 percent over the same period last year, and for the first time ever, the automaker sold more vehicles in China than in the United States. Just 13 years after entering China, G.M. now says the country accounts for a quarter of its global sales — blistering growth that even G.M. did not expect this soon.
“China’s a big piece of the value of the company,” said Stephen J. Girsky, G.M.’s vice chairman for corporate strategy and business development. “And since we pull cash out of China, it helps fund investments in other parts of the company as well.”
Analysts estimate G.M. is worth $50 billion to $90 billion, with China accounting for about $15 billion of that total. The United States government converted about $43 billion of aid to G.M. into its equity stake, which is expected to be sold off over time after the company is publicly traded. A valuation above $70 billion or so would allow the government to earn a profit on its stake.
Through joint ventures with China’s S.A.I.C. Motor Corporation and other local manufacturers, G.M. is this country’s largest vehicle manufacturer, accounting for about 13 percent of the nation’s fragmented car market. Its product line aims to cover the broad spectrum of needs, like the $5,000 Wuling Sunshine, a barebones minivan wildly popular in rural areas, and the luxurious Cadillacs that can be seen in the wealthy neighborhoods of Beijing.
This week, G.M. announced plans to create a seventh brand to sell small passenger cars. In the United States, G.M. is down to just four brands, after shedding Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer during its bankruptcy.
“This is not some sort of flash-in-the-pan investment strategy,” said Michael Robinet, an analyst with the research firm IHS Automotive. “During the bankruptcy process, G.M. China was the beacon in the night that G.M. always had in its back pocket, and China will be a vital cog in G.M.’s machine going forward.”
G.M. said it earned about $400 million from its China joint ventures in the first quarter of this year, when it earned a total of $1.2 billion outside of North America and Europe. Its total corporate profit for the quarter was $865 million because of losses and other costs elsewhere.
While GM’s fast-growing China operations are helping to offset the automaker’s problems in the United States, it ultimately will need to do better on its home turf to restore its financial health. On that score, G.M. earned a first-quarter profit of $1.2 billion in North America, after losing $3.4 billion the previous quarter, but its market share in the United States so far this year is down from 2009. Analysts said G.M.’s overall prospects still hinge more than anything else on its North American operations being healthy, because that is where it can generate the most income.
The company’s success in China has been helped by the fact that Chinese consumers do not have the skepticism about G.M. that is commonly seen in the United States. In China, many shoppers know little about cars and go to a dealer for guidance.
“What we offer is accepted at face value,” said Kevin Wale, the president of G.M. China. “We don’t carry any baggage, basically. We get treated for what we deliver.”
G.M. officials say no American taxpayer money has been used to expand in China, though a Chinese government stimulus program that encouraged sales of clean vehicles and helped farmers and other rural residents buy vehicles has fueled consumer demand here.
Buick is the company’s star. Favored by China’s last emperor, Buick is perceived as sumptuous and stylish, a contrast with its staid image among many Americans. G.M. sold nearly half a million Buicks here last year, almost five times the brand’s sales in the United States.
“I was so fascinated by the shape of this car,” said Xu Tianpei, who bought a Buick Regal at the Yongda dealership in Shanghai for 230,000 renminbi ($34,000), including taxes and insurance. “
Shen Hui, the general manager at the Shanghai Yongda Buick dealership, said discounted prices were a rarity because of the psychology of the Chinese car market, which for many years evolved around scarcity.
“People will not buy if the price is discounted because they think it will fall even further later on,” he said. “But when there is no discount and tight supply, they will worry that there won’t be any cars left.”
G.M. expects to sell more than three million cars and trucks in China annually by 2015; from January to June of this year it sold 1.2 million vehicles, versus 1.08 million in the United States. G.M.s sales in China in the first half of 2010 were quadruple those of the Ford Motor Company.
G.M. has been a part of the American industrial landscape for more than a century, but it has been in China only since 1997.
Still, that was early in the development of China’s consumer market for cars and trucks, which has given G.M. an advantage over rivals that only began arriving after it became clear how quickly demand was rising.
G.M. has for years been heavily focused on investing in China and other emerging markets, and it has been introducing some vehicles, like the Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Cruze sedans, in China before the United States and other countries.
In addition, G.M. has greatly enlarged its engineering and design work force in China. It is building the country’s largest proving grounds and broke ground this week on a $250 million advanced technology center to research batteries and other alternative energy sources.
G.M.’s hourly work force in China has grown to 32,000 people at 10 factories, including its joint ventures, while its American operations have shrunk to 52,000 hourly employees from a peak of 468,000 in 1979.
Tim Dunne, director of global automotive operations at the research firm J. D. Power & Associates, said China’s huge population did not guarantee success for automakers but that G.M. had been done well because of its focus on meeting consumers’ tastes.
“You’re talking about one of the most competitive markets in the world,” Mr. Dunne said. “They’ve surpassed my expectations. They marshaled resources into China and made sure they did it the right way.”
Mr. Wale, the president of G.M. China, admittedly has very different concerns from his counterparts in Detroit. As the company’s sales were falling 30 percent in the United States in 2008 and 2009, they were surging 67 percent in China.
But while rapid growth is the better of the two problems to have, the consequences of any missteps in China can reverberate throughout G.M. worldwide.
“If you’re not ready and you miss the market growth, then you miss it for a long time,” Mr. Wale said.
David Barboza reported from Shanghai and Nick Bunkley from Detroit. Bao Beibei contributed research.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/global/22auto.html?scp=1&sq=GM,%20China,%2048.5%&st=cse