Zoomi Life

Both General Motors and Chrysler have been told by the Obama administration’s automotive task force that they should prepare for bankruptcy. The U.S. Treasury has announced that they’re prepping plans to put Chrysler into Chapter 11 for a fast reorganization, which could happen before the month is out.

GM has already announced that Pontiac will be gone by 2011 and will be unloading Saab, Saturn, and Hummer before the end of the year. In all, there are 13 total GM brands hitting the bricks over the next 2 years. This is according to GM’s latest “viability plan” submitted to the government.

The Saturn brand is one of those likely to be sold off entirely, though the company has said that they are willing to continue production of Saturn vehicles as a contract assmebly deal. This would make a buyout of Saturn by Saturn dealerships viable–one of the known offers on the table right now.

Read More: GM and Chrysler Likely Facing Bankruptcy - GM Drops Pontiac and Saturn Brands

One of the troubled assets that General Motors has to liquidate to make the Obama Administration happy is the Saturn brand. The sub-company is a consistent money-loser for GM, despite its popularity. A group made up of current Saturn dealers and an Oklahoma City private equity firm are offering to buy the brand.

The group is led by Black Oak Partners, but is not the only group to come forward with an offer, according to GM. The automaker refuses to disclose whether any of the offers are being considered right now, though it’s likely they’re negotiating for the sale, given the circumstances.

Read More: Investment Group Wants to Buy GM’s Saturn

General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) announced plans to build fuel cell vehicles in 2010. The Shanghai Auto Show is full of surprises this year and this collaborations between the two companies is amazing news.

Read More: Shanghai Auto Show: GM and SAIC to Build Fuel-Cell Vehicle For 2010

The U.S. Treasury Department told General Motors on April 13th to begin laying the groundwork for a June 1st bankruptcy filing. GM is currently running on emergency government bailouts.

Read More: GM Told To Prepare For “Surgical” Bankruptcy

The Obama Administration plans to send another $285 million in funding to Detroit to purchase 17,600 new vehicles from the Big 3 before June 1st. The loose requirements for these “green” vehicles is that they manage to get at least 10% improvements in overall fuel efficiency from their counterparts.

Read More: More Bailouts for the Big 3 in Detroit

Tesla Motors has already run into the problem with that the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program’s loans don’t apply to them. Not because of their technology, but because they can’t put up matching loan funds to secure the loan.

The ATVM program requires that those applying for the loans put up matching equity funds and demonstrate their financial viability. Tesla was unable to do that and General Motors and Chrysler are in the same boat. GM can’t even convince the Obama Administration that it’s viable, let alone the DoE. Chrysler is likely to find itself in that same predicament, since they were given 30 days to clean up their financial quarter or face bankruptcy.

Read More: No DoE ATVM Loans For GM or Chrysler Either

The Segway Transporter became the epitome of nerd-dom and remains mildly popular, though it’s price tag and limited usefulness have greatly hindered it’s appeal. Using the technology from the Segway, however, the company has teamed up with rickety auto giant General Motors to produce the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility project (PUMA).

Read More: GM and Segway Team Up: the PUMA PEV

In announcements that surprised no one, both Chrysler and General Motors have announced their battery suppliers for plugins and electrics. One announcement was made in the usual on-screen handshake and press release and the other was made amidst heavy fanfare and money-wasting jubilee. One guess as to which was which.

Read More: Chrysler and GM Pick Battery Suppliers

On March 30, President Obama’s viability assessment team looked at GM in light of the requirements that had been laid down for GM to meet in order to qualify for more government loans. Those requirements had a deadline of March 31, which the reports states will obviously not be met.

Read More: GM Considered “Not Viable” by Obama’s Team

In a truly GM-styled move, the upcoming Volt’s price will be based not on business dynamics, it’s cost versus consumer demand, or anything else remotely market-based or based in sound business principle.

Read More: Chevy Volt’s Price Will Depend on Gasoline