#IM IN DEBT UP TO MY EYEBALLS FULL#
The full list of items included in GM’s epic family silver sale is too long to provide here. More recently, GM's been jetisoning bits of its core business, from shares in foreign automakers to the entirety of their parts provider Delphi. While auto industry pundits focus on the fading fortunes of GM the carmaker, it’s important to remember that virtually all of GM’s ancillary businesses– from refrigerators to airplanes to defense research to locomotives– have been de-acquisitioned.
GM had so much money swilling around its corporate coffers it made money loaning its money to other people. The company was so big and so rich it spent all its energies extending and embellishing its status. It was one of the world’s largest multi-national, multi-industry conglomerates. Less than fifty years ago, General Motors had no such burdens. Only a major recovery in the black hole known as GM’s North American market can hope to pay off the interest on the company’s loans– never mind reduce the principal, break even or, Heaven forfend, bank a surplus. General Motors has so much debt that even their high-flying foreign divisions know it’s hammer time (“You can’t touch this”). Forbes pegs the stat at $445b, against a market capitalization of $17b. GM is carrying a monumental amount of debt. Or that GM’s “rising tide lifts all boats” progress pales in comparison with the sales tsunami that Toyota’s riding deep into the American heartland. And I won’t bother pointing out that the majority of GM’s one percent market share gain came out of Ford’s two percent market share loss. Despite the title of this series, I’m not going to dwell on the fact that The General’s ten percent year-on-year sales increase is actually a rebound from a disastrous May ’06 (overall sales are still down 3.2 percent compared to the first five months of last year).
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