General Motors topples into bankruptcy

Hours after General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Manhattan, customers of Jerry Seiner "the GM Guy" Dealerships in Utah received an e-mail message that will soon be blasted on television, in newspapers and on billboards across the Wasatch Front.

"We've been here. We are here. And we will be here."

Seiner, a native of the Detroit area, which is the headquarters of the Big Three American automakers, says change is part of the automotive industry. He's driven Packards, Studebakers and DeSotos — now all long gone. More recently, General Motors cut the ignition of its Oldsmobile brand.

"There are lots of changes," Seiner said. "You always mourn the past and how it affects people."

Especially those whose dealerships will be closed as part of GM's shoring up its finances.

"There's also excitement about what's going to happen," Seiner said.

GM owns eight brands of vehicles currently for sale in the United States — Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn. The company has told local dealers that Buick, Cadillac, Chevy and GMC will remain the "core" part of GM after the company emerges from bankruptcy.

The Pontiac brand will soon be discontinued. Hummer, Saturn and Saab will likely be sold to other companies.

Seiner sells all of the GM brands except for Saturn and Saab. He hopes his new advertising campaign will remind the public that the four core brands will still be sold at his dealerships. His service departments will honor warranties and repair all GM brands. He also would like to continue selling Hummers, but that will depend on the permission of the new owner of Hummer.

Pontiacs at Seiner's dealerships will be liquidated in close-out sales, but Seiner doesn't know exactly when.

The slimmed-down GM will be a ward of the U.S. government, 60 percent owned by taxpayers.

Industry analysts, GM executives and President Barack Obama say GM now has the cost structure to compete in the global automotive market and one day return to profit.

GM reached a pact with the United Auto Workers that it says will bring costs more in line with Japanese automakers that have U.S. plants. Monthly debt payments will drop because GM will owe only $9 billion rather than $67 billion.