Jun 30 Watch Exploring GM’s payout plan for ignition switch victims By PBS News Hour To compensate victims of its deadly ignition switch problems, General Motors will pay at least $1 million for each death, plus $300,000 to surviving family members. Kenneth Feinberg, who has previously run high-profile funds for victims, will administer the GM… Continue watching
Jun 04 Watch BMW apprenticeship program trains workers to rise through the ranks without 4-year degree By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jun 04 Can Americans compete with quality-driven Germans? By Paul Solman Werner Eikenbusch, BMW’s head of workforce development for the Americas, left high school in the 10th grade for an apprenticeship program that combined on-the-job training with vocational school. He eventually returned to school to become an engineer, and at BMW’s… Continue reading
Jan 31 ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ Director Paine Discusses Renewed Optimism for Vehicle By Paul Solman Filmmaker Chris Paine achieved notoriety with his 2006 documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Now he's back -- with a more sanguine sequel, "The Revenge of the Electric Car." Producing two stories about the electric car… Continue reading
Mar 02 Ford Outsells GM for the First Time Since 1998 Ford Motor Company announced Tuesday a 43 percent increase in U.S. sales of light-vehicles for February versus a year ago, edging out rival GM, which posted a 12 percent gain for the month. It is the first time Ford… Continue reading
Jan 25 GM Interim CEO Whitacre Gets Permanent Job Ed Whitacre, Jr., the interim CEO of General Motors since Dec. 1, has been named permanent CEO at a news conference in Detroit this morning. "The board of directors asked if I would be willing to stay on… Continue reading
May 29 How Might GM’s Bankruptcy Work? Question: How might GM’s bankruptcy work? Paul Solman: For answers, I can’t improve upon this exchange with Wayne State law professor Laura Bartell, whose interview we’ll feature in our GM bankruptcy story, slated to run on Monday’s NewsHour. This… Continue reading
Nov 20 If There Isn’t a Bailout of the Big Three Auto Firms, What is the Overall Effect on the Government and on Our Economy? Question/Comment: If there isn’t a bailout of the Big Three auto firms, what is the overall effect on the government and on our economy? Paul Solman: Well, in a time of fearsome recession or worse, the loss of another quarter-million… Continue reading
Jan 28 Why don’t auto-manufacturers sell cars built to the customers’ needs? Question/Comment: As long as I can remember, automobile companies have always pushed their products, by, in one way or another, indicating that they are burdened by surplus inventory. So, given that all the auto-manufacturers now have Web sites where the… Continue reading