General Motors 2010 Annual Report Download - page 40

GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Opel/Vauxhall Restructuring Activities
In June 2010 the German federal government notified us of its decision not to provide loan guarantees to Opel/Vauxhall. As a
result, we have decided to fund the requirements of Opel/Vauxhall internally, including any amounts necessary to fund the
$1.4 billion in cash required to complete the European restructuring program. Opel/Vauxhall has subsequently withdrawn all
applications for government loan guarantees from European governments.
Through September 2010 we committed up to a total of Euro 3.3 billion (equivalent to $4.2 billion when committed) to fund Opel/
Vauxhall’s restructuring and ongoing cash requirements. This funding includes cumulative lending commitments combined into a
Euro 2.6 billion intercompany facility and equity commitments of Euro 700 million.
We plan to continue to invest in capital, engineering and innovative fuel efficient powertrain technologies including an extended-
range electric vehicle and battery electric vehicles. Our plan also includes aggressive capacity reductions including headcount
reductions and the closing of our Antwerp, Belgium facility.
In the year ended December 31, 2010 GME recorded charges for 2010 restructuring programs of $81 million related to separation
programs in the U.K. and Germany and an early retirement plan in Spain of $63 million, which will affect 1,200 employees.
In the year ended December 31, 2010 GME recorded charges of $527 million related to a separation plan associated with the
closure of the Antwerp, Belgium facility. There were 2,600 employees affected, of which 1,300 separated in June 2010. In addition,
GME and employee representatives entered into a Memorandum of Understanding whereby both parties cooperated in a working
group, which also included the Flemish government, in order to find an outside investor to acquire and operate the facility. In October
2010 we announced that the search for an investor had been unsuccessful and the vehicle assembly operations in Antwerp, Belgium
ceased at the end of 2010.
Increased GMNA Production Volume
The moderate improvement in the U.S. economy, resulting increase in U.S. industry vehicle sales and increase in demand for our
products has resulted in increased production volumes for GMNA. In the year ended December 31, 2010 GMNA produced 2.8 million
vehicles. This represents an increase of 46.8% compared to 1.9 million vehicles that combined GM and Old GM GMNA produced in
the year ended December 31, 2009.
The following table summarizes GMNA’s quarterly production volume (in thousands):
Three Months
Ended
December 31
Three Months
Ended
September 30
Three Months
Ended
June 30
Three Months
Ended
March 31
GMNA quarterly production volume 2010 ........................... 703 707 731 668
GMNA quarterly production volume 2009 ........................... 616 531(a) 395(b) 371(b)
Total GMNA quarterly production volume year- over-year increase ...... 14.1% 33.1% 85.1% 80.1%
(a) Combined GM and Old GM GMNA production volume.
(b) Old GM GMNA production volume.
Increased U.S. Vehicle Sales
GMNA dealers in the U.S. sold 2.2 million vehicles in the year ended December 31, 2010. This represents an increase of 131,000
vehicles (or 6.3%) from our and Old GM’s U.S. vehicle sales in the year ended December 31, 2009. This increase reflects our brand
rationalization strategy to focus our product engineering and design and marketing on our four brands. This strategy has resulted in
increased consumer demand for certain products such as the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX.
38 General Motors Company 2010 Annual Report