U.S. auto sales are expected to have dipped slightly in October, as stepped-up incentive spending by automakers could not totally offset the drag from continued turmoil in the U.S. housing market, analysts said.
General Motors Corp, one of the world's top two automakers, said it had yet to regain a competitive edge in the United States while future growth would come increasingly from markets such as China and Brazil. GM lost more than $12 billion in the past two years, and is in the midst of a sweeping restructuring that includes cutting more than 34,000 jobs and closing 12 plants in North America.
General Motors Corp said on Monday it will shift $16 billion from an existing trust fund to a new entity that will take over $47 billion in health-care obligations for some 270,000 union-represented retirees.
Negotiators from Chrysler LLC and the United Auto Workers were set to resume contract talks on Monday after the union set a deadline for wrapping up negotiations this week. The struggling No. 3 U.S. automaker has been given a 72-hour strike notice by the UAW as they negotiate a new labor agreement, a person familiar with the talks said on Monday.
General Motors Corp will be able to replace roughly a quarter of its factory workers with lower cost hires under the tentative contract reached last week with the United Auto Workers union.
United Auto Workers members at several locals have backed a ground-breaking tentative contract with General Motors Corp that may serve as a pattern for talks with Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC.
General Motors Corp gained ground against rivals in September with a 4 percent U.S. sales increase while Ford Motor Co sales plunged 18 percent and Toyota Motor Corp sales were off 1 percent for a third monthly decline. Overall, sales steadied in September, bucking Wall Street expectations for a decline.
Stocks gained on Wednesday as a tentative labor agreement at General Motors Corp eased worries about Detroit's automakers and more weak economic data added to expectations for another cut in interest rates.
General Motors Corp's quick settlement with its major union allows the softening U.S. economy to sidestep another blow and sets the stage for similar deals that could boost domestic automakers, analysts and investors said on Wednesday.
Stock futures rose on Wednesday as news of a tentative deal ending a strike at General Motors Corp raised hopes that Detroit's automakers would soon slash their health-care costs.
The United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp reached a tentative contract on Wednesday to end a national strike by 73,000 workers with a deal that includes a groundbreaking health-care trust fund. Production will resume on Wednesday, ending the first national UAW strike against GM since 1970 after two days.
Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp have resumed bargaining on Tuesday while more than 73,000 factory workers participated in the second day of the first national strike against the automaker in more than 30 years.
Hedge fund Appaloosa Management LP said in a U.S. regulatory filing on Tuesday that its offer for bankrupt auto parts supplier Dana Corp could be conditioned on there not being a strike at any of the major U.S. automakers.
More than 73,000 General Motors Corp workers walked off the job on Monday after marathon contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and GM stalled and the union called the first national strike since 1970 against the top U.S. automaker.
With General Motors Corp facing the prospect of its first strike in almost a decade, the $50 billion question for the struggling automaker is how badly it wants to buy peace with its major union.
The United Auto Workers union set a Monday morning deadline for reaching a contract deal with General Motors Corp. and threatened to send 73,000 GM factory workers on strike if no deal is reached.
General Motors Corp and the United Auto Workers union broke off negotiations early on Friday and agreed to return to the bargaining table later in the day, as 73,000 GM workers returned for another day of work without a new contract.
General Motors Corp would give new union members 401(k)-style retirement plans instead of traditional pensions for the first time under a proposed United Auto Workers contract, Bloomberg News said on its Web site, citing people with knowledge of the talks.
Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp were scheduled to resume discussions later on Tuesday as GM factory employees went to work as usual on the fourth day without a new contact.
Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp were back at the bargaining table on Monday after breaking in the early hours of the day, as thousands of GM factory employees went to work without a new contract.
Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp agreed to a break in contract talks on Monday after a marathon 16-hour bargaining session that raised expectations the union and the top U.S. automaker were nearing an agreement.
Contract talks between General Motors Corp and the United Auto Workers union resumed on Sunday, a day before tens of thousands of GM factory workers were due to return to work at the No. 1 U.S. automaker in the absence of a new contract.
