These four companies stand to profit from the demise of the major U.S. automakers.

Make that 25 billion reasons.

It won't last forever.

The Big Three restructuring plans submitted to Congress make good bedtime reading. The programs are full of assumptions which, taken as a whole, indicate that the entire US car industry will be in exceptionally good shape in under three years. The trouble with the plans is that most of the assumptions cannot be supported by any available facts, making them pure speculation about how the corporations which were once a pillar of American business can be made healthy again.

Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC) opened at $19.35. So far today, the stock has hit a low of $19.14 and a high of $19.59. HMC is now trading at $19.19, down $1.40 (-6.8%). Over the last 52 weeks the st...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Ford and Toyota Sales Crash; Triple Airline Merger in Talks; GE Ponders Job Cuts; Sears Closing Stores; Oil Prices Hit 3-year Low; Discover Says More Credit-card Write-offs Likely

• U.S. sales in November fell 31% for Ford Motor Co. (F) and 34%…

After being soundly criticized earlier for taking corporate jets to Washington D.C., the CEO’s of the Big Three have decided to road trip it this time. Of course, whether their newfound disgust their own extravagance will be enough to save them is whole another matter. Congress, after all, just loves its show ...

MERCEDES-BENZ (DAI): REPORTS US NOV SALES -30% Hyundai (HYMLF.PK): REPORTS US NOV SALES -40% Y/Y MAZDA: REPORTS US NOV SALES -31.3% Y/Y GM (GM): REPORTS NOV VEHICLE SALES -41.3% V -33%E BMW: REPORTS US NOV SALES -36.1% HONDA (HMC): REPORTS NOVEMBER US SALES -31.6% CHRYSLER: REPORTS NOV SALES -30% Y/Y PORSCHE: REPORTS US NOV SALES 1,378 V 2,662; -49% Y/Y FORD (F): REPORTS ...

Filed under: Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) are going in front of Congress today to ask for $25 billion worth of taxpayer money. (It seems they won't be flying in separate private jets.) GM will announce a reopening of its UAW contract and the winding down of its Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands. Ford will try to sell Volvo to the Swedish government. What's lacking from both plans at this stage is enough detail about cost savings to know whether taxpayers will get their money back.

As I posted, there is a $16 billion (in cost savings) six point restructuring plan which GM could have used, but it chose a different path. The six-point plan involved closing or selling the four brands and their related dealerships. GM's plan proposes to slowly wind down these brands and keep the dealers. It has been trying to sell Saab but no takers have emerged.

Moreover, GM workers remain higher paid than workers of its Japanese competitors. For example, UAW workers make an average of $76 an hour, including the cost of retiree benefits. Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) workers cost, all in, about $18 an hour less. It is unclear how much GM plans to cut from UAW pay by reopening the contract. Absent more details, today's GM restructuring plan does not provide a clear path to profitability.

Continue reading GM and Ford ready weak pitches for taxpayer bucks

GM and Ford ready weak pitches for taxpayer bucks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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