Free Republic

Ray LaHood is an idiot. How much he had to donate to Obama to get into the Cabinet, I have no idea. But he doesn't belong there. Obama's got a right to surround himself with liberals, if he wants to. But we can't afford to let him have morons, too. And that's what Ray LaHood is. A Republican, yes, but not a smart one. And his token backside should be fired. Yesterday was a good example. Sitting in front of a committee of Congress, talking about the Toyota accelerator recalls, he said that owners of a recalled vehicle should "stop...

Asian automakers grabbed their biggest chunk ever of the U.S. car and truck market in 2009, but they'll struggle to build on that momentum this year as rivals in Detroit offer a fleet of efficient, small cars. All automakers that sell cars and trucks in the U.S. will try to woo cautious consumers still nervous about heavy debt, high unemployment and rising gas prices. Market share held by 10 Asian automakers - including leaders Toyota and Honda - rose to 47.4 percent last year, surpassing for the first time Detroit's three players, which slipped to 44.2 percent, according to Autodata...

General Motors Co. Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. will be the pitchman who starts the automaker's new advertising campaign this weekend with television spots urging people to try GM's new vehicles, a person briefed on the campaign said Wednesday.

Bailouts: You're a once-mighty auto company that's been bailed out by taxpayers, taken over by government and just posted a 22% sales drop. What's your next move? Why, unveil a new men's fragrance, of course!It got little attention, but GM's decision to launch its new fragrance line in honor of Cadillac's 100th anniversary may go down as one of the most absurd moves by a troubled corporation ever. No doubt they kept a team of highly paid MBAs busy for months with the project, while the car end of their business was imploding faster than a black hole. Is this...

Chrysler's Saviors   [Stephen Spruiell] Government negotiators completed the sale of Chrysler to Fiat this morning. The New York Times reports: A two-page order from the Supreme Court made it clear that it was not ruling on the merits of the Indiana funds’ case. But the justices wrote that the funds, which represent teachers and police officers, “have not carried the burden” of proving that the Supreme Court needed to intervene. It's impossible to determine from the Supremes' two-page order why they rejected the Indiana funds' request for a stay. Ironically, the conservative Justices' views on the matter of standing...

General Motors Corp. is expected to name turnaround executive Al Koch as its new chief restructuring officer to guide the auto maker's trip through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Koch, a managing director at the advisory firm AlixPartners LLP, will be named to the post when GM files its bankruptcy papers at 8 a.m. Monday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York's Southern District, these people said. He will be the highest-ranking outsider in GM's officer ranks and oversee about 60 Alix employees working for the auto maker.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some auto dealers that Chrysler LLC plans to close are beginning a challenge to the automaker's plans to quickly sell itself in bankruptcy. The group, which calls itself the "Committee of Chrysler Affected Dealers," filed papers on Tuesday asking the bankruptcy court to delay hearings that would approve the sale and allow Chrysler to reject almost 800 of its dealership franchise agreements, or about 25 percent of its overall dealer network. The committee, which said it represents nearly 300 dealers in 45 states, said in a statement it needed more time from the court to investigate...

GM DEFAULTS (GM) Joe Weisenthal|Apr. 22, 2009, 12:41 PM| This was only a matter of time. Everyone from inside and outside GM assumed that the company would default on its debt and likely go bankrupt barring some miracle. But now it's official. The company's CFO says the firm will not make its June 1, $1 billion debt payment according to the {Wall Street Journal}. The announcement comes as smaller rival Chrysler appears headed for liquidiation.