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Stranger
Clicky
F1 Nut
This is very interesting, i will have to do some more checking.
Stranger
Let us know F1 Nut thumbs.gif
Scream'n_Demon
This suggests two things to me:

1) Toyota are only getting stronger.

2) GM are in trouble. Why sell shares in a profitable company for no good reason?? They need cash. Could this be the end for GM?
Stranger
Toyota could have made an offer to GM which is impossible to turn down bearing in mind it'd be nice to have access to the Subaru boxer engine and AWD technology, or it could be an investment by GM which hasn't worked as expected.

Not long back I heard rumours that Subaru were in trouble ....... maybe Toyota want to have first dibs at picking over the corpse.

I think it's a case of watch this space.
F1 Nut
QUOTE (Scream'n_Demon @ Nov 1 2005, 10:46 PM)
This suggests two things to me:

1) Toyota are only getting stronger.

2) GM are in trouble. Why sell shares in a profitable company for no good reason?? They need cash. Could this be the end for GM?
*


You are pretty close with your second point.
A few months back GM closed 5-6 plants in America laying off 25,000 workers. They have a masive dept.
The word around is: since day one GM has had medical insurance for there workers and they are supposed to be putting something like $100 a week into a special bank account(government) but they have only put $5 a week into this account. Therefore they are something like 30-40 billion in dept. Holden here in OZ has dropped one model and we are hearing that Holden's next model will have ALL ITS PARTS MADE IN CHINA. so much for the great aussie car.
Scream'n_Demon
QUOTE (F1 Nut @ Nov 2 2005, 07:39 PM)
QUOTE (Scream'n_Demon @ Nov 1 2005, 10:46 PM)
This suggests two things to me:

1) Toyota are only getting stronger.

2) GM are in trouble. Why sell shares in a profitable company for no good reason?? They need cash. Could this be the end for GM?
*


You are pretty close with your second point.
A few months back GM closed 5-6 plants in America laying off 25,000 workers. They have a masive dept.
The word around is: since day one GM has had medical insurance for there workers and they are supposed to be putting something like $100 a week into a special bank account(government) but they have only put $5 a week into this account. Therefore they are something like 30-40 billion in dept. Holden here in OZ has dropped one model and we are hearing that Holden's next model will have ALL ITS PARTS MADE IN CHINA. so much for the great aussie car.
*



mf_laughbounce2.gif

Well, that 'great aussie car' was a nissan with a chev engine to start with anyway. I still like them. mf_laughbounce2.gif
F1 Nut
Well not as good as it sounds, Toyota will only have 7% of Subaru. And this is all about getting bigger and taking the world over. Toyota want to be number one in the world within 5years, so at present they are doing what is needed.
Scream'n_Demon
Toyota may have only 7% but thats the largest share any one has. The will have influence over most shareholders as well because most of them are also shareholders of Toyota.
F1 Nut
I dont think they will have much say with 7%, but you never know headscratch.gif
Stranger
Just picked this up:

QUOTE
General Motors (GM) is selling its stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, the company that owns automaker Subaru, and will restate its second-quarter earnings to show a quarterly loss of roughly $1 billion, most of it due to a loss on the Fuji Heavy holdings, GM said Wednesday.  GM and Fuji 9 will continue to work together on the Saab 9-2X. 

That's atop a net loss of $1.1 billion in the first quarter. GM reports third-quarter results Oct. 17.

It's the second time in eight months that GM has taken a hefty charge for a bad investment in a foreign car company and restated earnings to reflect that. In February, it untangled a deal with Italy's troubled Fiat. GM restated fourth-quarter 2004 earnings to reflect the cost of that, resulting in a loss for the quarter of $95 million rather than a profit of $630 million.

"These kinds of results have not been acceptable to us, and we're working hard to change this," says Toni Simonetti, GM financial spokeswoman. She notes that the ongoing problem, though, is poor results on North American auto operations, GM's core business, and "the key issue for us is to turn around North America."

GM will get roughly $725 million for its 20.1% stake in Fuji Heavy, purchased for $1.3 billion in 1999 and valued on GM books at $1.5 billion. GM will write down that value by $700 million to $800 million, Simonetti says, and that will go against second-quarter earnings. Income from sales of the Fuji Heavy shares will be booked this quarter, helping offset the loss.

Fuji Heavy said earlier this year that it expected less revenue and lower profit than previously planned. At that point, GM's investment was "impaired" and less valuable, Simonetti says.

The "Fuji Heavy sale is a minor liquidity event, but not a great return on investment," Merrill Lynch auto analyst John Casesa said in a note to clients. Prudential Equity Group's Michael Bruynesteyn calls the sale "a mild positive," mainly because it suggests GM also might sell its 20% stake in Suzuki and its 8% of Isuzu.

GM says the Fuji sale was to end an underperforming relationship, not to raise cash. "GM and FHI came to the conclusion that there were not enough collaborative projects to sustain the alliance," Troy Clarke, GM Asia Pacific president, said in a statement.

Toyota Motor ™ says it will buy 68 million shares, or about 8.7% of Fuji Heavy, and pay GM roughly $315 million for them. Fuji Heavy will buy back most or all the rest at market value today, Friday and Tuesday.

Toyota would be deviating from its pattern if it kept its stake in Fuji Heavy at 8.7%. Toyota owns 51.2% of carmaker Daihatsu, 50.1% of heavy-duty truck maker Hino, 50% of component supplier Toyota Autobody and about 23% each of parts suppliers Denso and Aisin Seiki.

Subaru operates a factory in Lafayette, Ind., that manufactures 120,000 cars and SUVs a year.


Source: USATODAY.com
F1 Nut
Hmmmmm... Interesting
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