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Every villain needs a sidekick, and if there were ever a villain character in the soap opera that is the North American auto industry, it's 91-year-old billionaire Kirk Kerkorian who recently revealed that his private holding company, Tracinda Corp., was buying up Ford stock like he knew something the rest of us didn't. Kerkorian's sidekick in this saga is Jerry York, an ex-auto exec who the billionaire placed on GM's board of directors back when he was pushing for an alliance between the biggest of the Big 3 and Nissan/Renault.

York has revealed that he met with Ford CEO Alan Mulally after Tracinda Corp. began buying up Blue Oval stock and expressed his confidence in the executive's plan to turn around Ford. He also said that if it were him at the helm, both Mercury and Volvo would be sold. York thinks that Mulally will likely put Volvo up for sale in the next 18 months, but there's a bit more analysis to be done on whether or not to sell Mercury.

While Volvo might command a pretty penny on the open market for its brand cachet and expertise in the area of safety, we're not sure there's much demand out there for Mercury. We suspect that Ford is faced with the same question that GM was when it scuttled Oldsmobile: kill it or keep the lights on? Like Oldsmobile, Mercury is seen as a brand of rebadged vehicles so intertwined with its parent company that no potential buyer would want to deal with the long, expensive process of extricating it from Ford and starting over. But York thinks Ford might be able to get something for it, which doesn't say a lot to us about Kirkorian's sidekick.

UPDATE: Ford issued a press release saying that Volvo is not for sale and that it continues to invest in Mercury. Lewis Booth, Volvo's CEO, also reiterated that his brand's not going anywhere.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian announced today that his investment firm Tracinda Corp. had cut its stake in General Motors from 9.9% to 7.4% by selling $462 million worth of the automaker's stock. That amounts to a sell off of 14 million shares at $33 per share.

The move by Kerkorian comes after the soap opera-like events surrounding a proposed alliance between General Motors and Nissan/Renault that ultimately fell through despite Kerkorian's support. In fact, Kerkorian and the man he placed on GM's board, Jerry York, were the ones who proposed the alliance and approached Nissan/Renault without the board's knowledge. Many postulate that GM CEO Rick Wagoner didn't appreciate the surreptitious move that usurped his power and he therefore made sure the proposal was shot down. A committee chosen by Wagoner was set up to evaluate the alliance and found that the proposed alliance would benefit Nissan/Renault more than it would GM. For its part, Nissan/Renault was unwilling to pay a large sum of money that numbered in the hundreds of millions, which GM proposed would even out the partnership. On account of the failed alliance, Jerry York resigned from GM's board on October 6th.

Who knows what goes on in the mind of Kirk Kerkorian, but knowing what we know about GM's product lineup stretching out through 2010, we'd have to say that selling his stake in the company is a move that will probably lose money in the long run. We're not financial analysts by any means, but GM's turnaround has just started the back nine and will bear fruit in the form of profits before the end of 2008. Or so says our Magic 8-Ball.

[Source: Automotive News]

Related posts:

• BREAKING: York quits GM board, Kerkorian won't buy more GM stock
• REPORT: GM and Renault/Nissan end talks
• Could Rick Wagoner rock the boat on Renault/Nissan deal?

Rick Wagoner may have won the Renault-Nissan battle, but the boardroom wars are far from over for General Motors' beleagured chief executive. Wall Street analysts are telling investors to brace themselves for a lengthy and bitter fight for control of the company's board of directors, led by dissident shareholder Kirk Kerkorian.

Kerkorian's right hand man in his GM adventure, Jerry York, resigned last week from the GM board, saying in his resignation letter that the board environment made it hard for directors to challenge management and that GM should have brought in advisers for the board to evaluate independently the potential benefits of an alliance with Renault and Nissan.

York is set to make another presentation to GM investors at the end of the month, this time in Las Vegas. His last such presentation, this January in Detroit, was scathingly critical of GM's turnaround strategy, and after his stint on the board, we can expect him to fire a new salvo with fresh ammunition.

Kerkorian, meanwhile, is expected by some analysts to be preparing for a proxy fight to shift the balance of power in GM's board and ultimately give Rick Wagoner the boot.

[Source: Reuters]

"Screw you guys, I'm going home." A phrase made famous by Cartman from South Park but one that we find so apt for news coming out of General Motors this afternoon. Royally irked over the ending of alliance talks with Renault/Nissan, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has announced that he won't buy an additional 12 million shares of GM stock as he said he would, and that his advisor/muscle Jerry York has resigned his seat from the board of General Motors. The additional 12 million shares would've pumped Kerkorian's share of GM from 9.9 percent to around 12 percent. What will Kerkorian do now after his move to manhandle GM management has failed? Who knows, as this guy has been anything but predictable.

Thanks to Chris D. for the tip!

[Source: CNN Money]

Kirk Kerkorian may buy up to 12 million additional shares of GM stock, according to Automotive News. The billionaire investor would need approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission for the deal because it would send his company, Tracinda Corporation, well over 10 percent ownership of GM common stock.

The move supports GM's potential alliance with Renault/Nissan, a merger that Kerkorian has battled for from the beginning. Officially, Tracinda said this in the filing with the SEC:

"Tracinda continues to believe that a strong opportunity exists in a potential alliance between General Motors, Renault and Nissan and that there should be strong General Motors board involvement in the analysis of such a potential alliance, including the utilization of independent advisors."

We're interested to see what power this gives Kerkorian and right-hand man Jerry York, whom Kerkorian has placed onto GM's board of directors.

[Source: Automotive News]

Retired Chrysler chairman (and Snoop Dogg homey) Lee Iacocca will be releasing a book in approximately one year, tentatively titled "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?". It's said to cover several topics, among them the state of the American auto industry and the threat that the US manufacturing economy faces from China and India.

Iacocca is said to be writing the book because he "flunked retirement" and "there is too much to be done to sit on the sidelines."  The octogenarian has not been quiet since leaving Chrysler in 1992, having attempted a $20B buyout of the automaker in 1995 (with Kirk Kerkorian and current GM board member Jerry York), along with campaigning for George W. Bush in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.

[Source: Houston Chronicle]

Saab and HUMMER won't be hitting the Orphan Car Show anytime soon, says Rick Wagoner. General Motors' top guy told shareholders yesterday that the company won't be taking the advice of new board member Jerry York, billionaire investor/GM stakeholder Kirk Kerkorian's right-hand man. York made waves in the industry just before he joined the board, when he gave a speech suggesting that GM axe the Saab and HUMMER brands, among other suggestions.

The news also means that York and GM management haven't managed to come to an agreement about branding strategy for the company, but it might be a good thing afterall -- HUMMER was one of the stars of April and May sales, and Saab's realignment alongside Opel might deserve a chance before the marque is cut. Of course, there's always GMC and Buick, but perhaps there are other ways to redefine these brands.

[Source: Reuters via Automotive News; Hummer; TheTruthAboutCars.com]

Banc of America official Ronald Talross feels that General Motors' financial picture is actually worsening, based on a meeting last week with GM CFO Fritz Henderson. While Talross claims to have been impressed with Henderson's straightforward approach, it is said that there were "no original solutions" presented with regard to GM's slipping market share, and that without a "silver bullet" solution to this problem, the automaker's stock price should resume its downward slide. The analyst maintained that a target share price of $10 is still accurate, which would require a drop of over 60 percent from the most recent closing price of $26.09.

Talross' opinion is sure to give the vapors to those who see the automaker's month-long rally (with an increase in share price of 30 percent) as the first sign of a return to greatness. Others will point to the unresolved Delphi situation, flaky accounting, and the inability of the automaker to arrest its sliding sales and deal with overcapacity issues as reasons that GM has a long ways to go before it can be considered a good investment. Go ahead and battle this one out in the Comments, but we'll be looking towards the financial markets to provide a definitive answer.

Interestingly, the same analyst weighed in on Toyota with a "neutral" rating, stating that Toyota's margins and investment in future product are encouraging, but that the automaker's growth targets will be extremely difficult to meet while maintaining quality.

[Source: Forbes, Money/CNN, Detroit News]

 

In its report on first-quarter worldwide sales, General Motors made a point of highlighting the success of HUMMER and Saab as part of its 4.4 percent growth overall. The two brands have attracted criticism in recent months, notably from board member Jerry York who suggested in January that the company dump both marques.

HUMMER sales grew 202 percent over last year, largely on the strength of the new H3. While most of the growth occurred in the U.S., the company reported strong results in Canada and the Middle East, with further growth in overseas sales expected with the availability of a right-hand drive H3 later this year.

Saab sales set an all-time record, up 23.2 percent worldwide over last year, boosted by the launch of its 2.8-liter V6 turbo powerplant and its 9-5 BioPower (Sweden's best-selling ethanol vehicle). With its model lineup undergoing expansion over the last couple of years (9-7x, 9-2x, etc.) that's somewhat predictable, but still welcome news. Now, if they could just make a profit.

[Sources:Tradingmarkets.com, GM]

Tracinda's Jerry York appears to have changed his tune about what General Motors needs to do in order to get back on track, according to Bob Lutz. Kirk Kerkorian's right-hand man made headlines in January, calling for GM to axe Saab and possibly HUMMER to focus on the automaker's core brands... but now, Lutz says, York acknowledges that he spoke too soon.

 "Jerry made all those comments before he joined the board," Lutz said. "He realizes that it was a suggestion he wouldn't have made if he knew all the facts."

So... has York taken too many sips from the General's watercooler, or simply realized the error of his ways? Have your say in 'comments.'

[Source: Automotive News]