Conspiracy Theorists: Government Forcing Toyota Recalls For Investment Purposes

TheGMSource - I've thought I've heard it all this week and last. Lets face it, Toyota is the darling of the American media. A company that could do no wrong. Toyota didn't have quality problems. Toyota didn't have major recalls. Fact is, Toyota has recalled some 8 million plus vehicles now tied to floormats and sticky pedals. In China, it's made its fifth major recall in the past 12 months.

I did think I've heard it all...until I read today that this is all a conspiracy by the United States government.

GM Reports 14% Increase In U.S. Sales 

TheGMSource - General Motors core brands saw its sales rise yet again. For the month of January GM saw a 14% increase in sales compared to January 2009. The core brads, Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac combined for a 3% increase compared to last years numbers.

Russian Mafia Reportedly Involved In First Saab Bid 

TheGMSource - When the GM Board of Directors terminated a deal with Spyker late last month for it's then for sale Saab brand some people were left scratching their heads as to why. Today we learn that due to fears of the Russian Mafias involvement with the sale the deal was called off by GM's Board.

TOYOTAL RECALL: Toyotas Quality Issues Show GM/Chrysler Bailout Justified 

TheGMSource - The company once thought to be the pinnacle of automotive quality and engineering has started a new decade much like it left the last one: plagued by recalls for millions of its top selling vehicles. In October of last year Toyota announced a major recall of 4.5 Million cars because of what it said was a floormat problem that lead to random acceleration of vehicles. Just yesterda the company added 1.1 Million more vehicles to that recall, in addition to a newly announced recall of 1.2 Million vehicles for faulty gas pedals.

GM Losing $325 Million In Saab Investment 

TheGMSource - General Motors today announced a deal to sell it's Saab brand to long rumored interested party Spyker Automobiles. While terms of the deal were not announced it has been rumored that the deal will be worth $400 Million. Spyker has created a new company with it's purchase of Saab which will be called Saab Spyker Automotive.

GM Foundation Donates $100k To Haiti Relief Efforts 

TheGMSource - By now you've probably heard about the crisis in Haiti following a 7.0 magnitude earthquate that shook the region a few days ago. From footage I've seen on all the major news outlets it doesn't look like any buildings survived the quake. The deaths are rumored to be in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. Americans are sure to be included in the final toll.

Today, GM stepped up their own efforts for Haiti relief and has donated $100k to the American Red Cross.

GM's Core Brands Continue To Make Sales Progress 

TheGMSource - GM's four core brands for North America posted another retail sales gain for the month of December, as GM announced sales of 208,511 units. This is a 6% decline in sales year over year driven primarily non-core GM brands.

Buick, Chevy, GMC and Cadillac saw retail sales climb a total of 7% compared to last year.  

Detroit In RUINS Has Many Factual Errors 

TheGMSource - I was pointed to a video about a week ago of a video that was posted on YouTube called "Detroit In RUINS." It's a video piece done in about 13 minutes time by a journalist that tours the city and tells his tale of why he believes the City of Detroit is in shambles. He blames leftists that have been elected and also the UAW for Detroits downfall.

Being a citizen from metro-Detroit, I can tell you that I do agree with plenty of his points, all except his reasoning to blame the UAW.

Spyker Makes One Last Ditch Effort For SAAB 

TheGMSource - On Friday morning GM made an announcement regarding the future of its SAAB brand. They were going to kill the company after an agreement couldn't be reached by GM's Board of Directors December 31st deadline. There were said to be a number of impasses that affected GM's ability to reach a deal in a "timely manner."  

It seems after GM made the announcement on Friday, a number of new offers began to pour into the automaker to save the SAAB brand. One company is Spyker.

Laid Off GM Employee Becomes Underdog PBA Champion 

TheGMSource - Tom Smallword had worked at General Motors for years. The former metalworker installed seat belts at General Motors for about a year before he was let go Dec. 23 of last year. Knowing that jobs are hard to find here in Michigan, and Tom admitting himself that "good jobs are even harder to find" Tom decided to take a risk and follow his passion.

Professional bowling.

 GM North American President Has Candid Q&A With Consumers

TheGMSource - New General Motors President Mark Reuss had a candid conversation today with consumers (and took select media questions) in a web-chat over on the GM FastLane Blog. Reuss was very candid in answers and even dropped quite a few hints.

Some of the more interesting mentions were the mention of his likeness for the Z-28 as well as comments on a retail version of the Chevrolet Caprice.

GM CEO Ed Whitacre, Jr. Steps Out From The Desk...Into The Assembly Plant 

TheGMSource - We've documented the changes that Ed Whitacre, Jr. has made in his short time as GM's interim CEO so we won't bother to get into those details here again. However, what Ed is also doing away from the desk is just as good to see as the changes he's making behind it.

On Thursday, December 10th, Whitacre. Jr. hopped in one of his GM owned vehicles, hit I-75 North in Michigan and stopped off at GM's Flint Assembly plant to mingle and visit with workers.

OlOld GM Stock Still Continues To Trade in Positive Territory 

TheGMSource - Old GM stock, or now Motors Liquidation Company stock is still trading, often times in positive territory. The stock which opened the day at $.57 per share now sits at $.59 per share and shows heavy volumes of stock being traded.

TheGMSource - Mark Reuss is a man that many enthusiasts are going to love to appreciate. He served as President of Holden for the past two years before being appointed as President GM North America by Ed Whitacre, Jr. on December 4th. Today, we've gotten word that Mark Reuss will make himself available on a web-chat this Friday afternoon.

The web-chat is open to both media and consumer questions it would appear. I have a few questions for Mark myself.