Porsche head predicts a hedge fund will swallow GM or Ford
Little guy Porsche is taking huge swings, and not just at the giant that is Volkswagen. Porsche head Wendelin Wiedeking had fierce Teutonic words for General Motors and Ford, and banks. His Rindfleisch – beef, that is – with U.S. automakers is that, through unsound practices, they have thrown absolutely everything into turmoil. In the words of the Guardian, in fact, they have driven "the industry to the brink of ruin." Those are big and perhaps hyperbolic words. But he then singles out GM for "openly threatening" the U.S. Government with bankruptcy, and predicts a hedge fund will take control of "one of the U.S. car manufacturers." Since Chrysler is already controlled by a hedge fund, that only leaves GM and Ford as the possible subjects of that comment. We can't imagine a hedge fund trying to swallow GM or Ford, especially after Cerberus has taken such a beating with Chrysler that seemingly all they can say is "Must... find... the exit."
Wiedeking is on more Earthly ground when he talks about the little guys, suppliers, who are quietly going under -- even though many of them ran their business correctly -- due to the banks' refusal to lend money while the clash of automotive titans continues. In a quote that people in many different industries can applaud, he says "We need banks to give credit, not just talk about credit ratings but start real actual lending to companies." Amen. Thanks for the tip, Sonny!
[Source: The Guardian]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jei 1:24PM (12/01/2008)
Wendelin Wiedeking has stated the tough & painful --- if obvious --- possible outcome in the near future. GM & Ford both need govt funding AND private funding through private investments. I don't know much about Ford's "road to recovery", but GM was on its way to much higher net profits and its future product outlook was as good as any of the well-regarded automakers today.
Though we see the glut of too many brands under GM control, we have forgotten that Fiat almost nearly forced GM to purchase the once-troubled Italian corporation a few years back. A shrewd General passed on the deal and quickly paid the exit fee.
GM has been shoring-up its foreign operations to properly create a global manufacturing conglomerate which can better respond to consumer tastes in differing markets. But a lot of its efforts were washed away when the US car market tanked when high US fuel prices kept increasing and its current (& near-future) products didn't consider fuel consumption.
Wiedeking should be cautious of buying too much ownership of VW also. Just like the larger firms are feeling the burn of having larger vehicles planned for production, owning own of them ain't gonna help BMW in the long-run also.
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The Doctor 1:28PM (12/01/2008)
Cerberus isn't a hedge fund...
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AZZO45b 1:38PM (12/01/2008)
Cerberus is a "kinda " hedgefund (look at their holdings & executive base).
Hedge fund or not Cerberus is looking to GET OUT of the auto biz... so WTF would more be rushing to enter the auto biz after Cerberus' experience???
Proves Porsche has some dopes as well???
rsfourever 5:01PM (12/01/2008)
um, no. cerberus is not "kinda" a hedge fund. it's not a hedge fund at all. it's a PE firm. that's private equity. those are two totally different things. hedge funds deal in funds of various things, such a stocks, bonds, etc. PE firms buy entire companies, reorganize (i.e. cut costs), and sell at a profit. Cerberus is a Private Equity firm, not a hedge fund.
rsfourever 5:03PM (12/01/2008)
and by the way, the whole "Cerberus is looking to get out of the auto bis" thing is stupid to say, as though you are making a point.
that's their JOB. they buy companies, reorganize, then GET OUT BY SELLING! that's what a PE firm does! why is anyone surprised that Cerberus is trying to sell Chrysler?!?
AZZO45b 5:31PM (12/01/2008)
Sorry, RS they seem like similar deals to me... & I know the definitions of BOTH thank you.
Cerberus bought Chrysler to turn it around & then make a profit... as we discovered during GM merger talks they found the auto biz a tad more difficult. They also haven't come CLOSE to meeting their goals either (even before this economic disaster).
They have been public with some of these concerns. No one had visions of owning Chrysler for the next decade... my opinion was they were prepping the Pentastar boys for the Chinese or a returning European car company (Fiat's Alfa or a Renault return). With the economic nose dive my theory went out the window... but doesn't change the fact that Cerberus management of Chrysler has SUCKED!
Temple 1:28PM (12/01/2008)
Even if GM or Ford goes out-of-buisness its not like all their assets are going to evaporate. They are still incredibly strong brands that still sell millions of cars even in this recession.
The whole, 3 million jobs lost thing is a lot of fear mongering to convince Americans to support a bail-out, even in the worst case scenario, while all excess capacity will be cut, not every single job will be lost. Not nearly the Apocalypse some make it out to be.
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adam 2:35PM (12/01/2008)
I agree fully!
its like a marketing campain... a going out of business sale of sorts... but aimed at the federal governmetn...
why not the LS2LS7? 1:37PM (12/01/2008)
Hedge fund? Is Porsche trapped in 2005?
You think Wall Street banks are broke? The hedge funds went down first!
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Jason 1:40PM (12/01/2008)
GM needs to be liquidated, this way their factories can be used to produce cars for the companies that are able to support themselves.
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noz 1:44PM (12/01/2008)
The world will survive just fine without GM or Ford....or Chrysler. This is complete utter bull.
If anything, these companies are doing more harm than good by being around. Make way....you're done.
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zamafir 2:03PM (12/01/2008)
Yes... most successful car company on earth? Highest paid CEO in the automotive industry? Clearly it's BS... can we find any CEOs from beleaguered carmakers to quote instead, Bleeding 2.5 Billion objectively tells me they've got a much better grasp on the industry then the CEO of the world's most profitable carmaker.
I guess im more prone to call bull when it’s a CEO who’s failing to adapt to changes in the market to the point he’s begging tax payers for money making the statements.
why not the LS2LS7? 2:10PM (12/01/2008)
Yeah. It's ridiculous. We should put our faith in German automakers, they know how better to bribe their way to the top than domestic makers.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/15/business/deutsch.php
noz 2:21PM (12/01/2008)
yeah so let's keep running a POS coming and poor billions of dollars into a black hole that is doing nothing but taking away hard earned tax dollars from people in this country.
The most successful car company on earth?
I have no MBA from my understanding, companies that require bailoutsm handouts, and money from private citizens aren't the "most successful."
Perhaps you think they are successful because your standards are so pathetically low?
Most successful....lol...are you on crack? Do you even follow whats going on?
And for the short-sighted types like LS2, no one said put faith in German automakers instead...did anyone? But your logic of "if they do it, we should too" is well....
AZZO45b 3:08PM (12/01/2008)
Noz: You might want to research who the Germans & Japanese use as suppliers for their N/A based plants.
I'll give you a preview... the same automotive suppliers that the Detroit 3 use. If you get your prayers answered & the former Big 3 drop dead... so does their supplier network.
noz 4:28PM (12/01/2008)
There are many other things these suppliers, workers, and tools can be used for other than making cars. If we continue to look at things the same way, we'll never get out of this.
We don't have an auto industry in this country....we have an empire...and the people at the helm will do whatever it takes to keep this cancer going...regardless of long term effects.
We feel the pain NOW....or we feel 10 times the pain later. But Americans never want to feel pain....I mean...it's written in the constitution right? We have the God given right to not feel pain.
Spectacular Bid 2:16PM (12/01/2008)
Rather loud words from Porsche which almost died after the 1980's bubble and looks to be likely suffering as badly as everyone else in 2008 if not worst if viewed on car sales only.
Porsche aales for the quarter down 15% (although even worse with dips of 50%+ in the last month) stopping production for a week (or more), signalling they won't take that 50% control of VW due to the economy, et al.
In fact their CEO [Urquhart] was quoted as saying last month’s 911 U.S. delivery total was “catastrophic”. So I think Porsche should just stick to making their very well made vehicles and not worry about the greater US market which could never afford - or likely want - a Porsche.
Only because of their securities hedging options tied to VW (and unique German securities laws) have they enjoyed a massive windfall and cushion upon which to land. If they had to rely on strictly car sales they would be in serious pain.
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bfaukner 2:30PM (12/01/2008)
"Let them fail; let everybody fail! I made my fortune when I had nothing to start with, by myself and my own ideas. Let other people do the same thing. If I lose everything in the collapse of our financial structure, I will start in at the beginning and build it up again."
--Henry Ford (Feb. 11, 1934)
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noz 4:31PM (12/01/2008)
It's interesting no one commented on this wonderful and very sharp quote...perhaps because all the whiners will be lit up like torches.
Jared 2:32PM (12/01/2008)
I would have expected Wiedeking to understand the difference between a hedge fund and private equity.
Hedge funds don't buy undervalued companies and do a turn around. That is what private equity companies do.
Perhaps Mr. Wiedeking's remarks were misquoted or mistranslated.
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