Apparently, the agreement ends in 2011, at which point GM may be required to contribute more cash ... to the VEBA. |
However, GM's estimate of a $15 billion reduction in the health-care liability, due to the agreement, assumes the agreement lasts in perpetuity. |
I wouldn't be surprised if that was currently suspended as a function of the strike. |
It seems like we're still kind of waiting to see if it's really going to move the needle. You guys talk about the new products and how well they're doing. I guess it's just hard to say that that's important if you can't get your overall sales up. |
It's likely that someone's going to try to make them pay a fuller price. That would be the right, competitive thing to do. |
The focus of cash as part of the stock value is a way analysts look at the company. |
The gap is likely to go up in the future as consumers weigh in on higher gas prices. |
We believe the odds GM management could be held accountable for accounting errors has gone up, and this could accelerate a bankruptcy protection decision that we think is inevitable. |
We think that the eventual savings from the deal will only be in the $7 billion pretax range, compared with GM's estimate of $12 billion. |