plus 4, GM to end Saab brand after talks with buyer fail - Associated Press

GM to end Saab brand after talks with buyer fail - Associated Press
UK officials: China sets date to execute Briton - The Sun News
Del. union seeking new life after GM - Delaware Online
EnCana seeks natural gas highway network - Stockhouse
FBI: Murders fell 10 percent in first half of 2009 - Fresno Bee

GM to end Saab brand after talks with buyer fail - Associated Press

Posted: 21 Dec 2009 08:09 AM PST

NEW YORK (AP) -- General Motors is killing off another well-known brand - Saab, a quirky line of cars known for angular roof lines and ignition keyholes between the front seats - after talks with a Dutch would-be buyer collapsed.

GM, Dutch automaker Spyker Cars and the government of Sweden, where Saabs are made, were in discussions as late as Friday morning. Spyker said the sale was too complicated to complete quickly. GM declined to elaborate on why the deal failed.

"We worked 24/7 for three weeks, but the complexity of the transaction in combination with the strict deadline simply did not allow us to complete the transaction," said Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker, a producer of exotic sports cars.

The announcement almost certainly means the death of a brand with a small but devoted following.

Enthusiasts appreciated touches like placing the ignition lock between the front seats rather than on the steering column. Saabs were also known for unusual design, with flatter front windshields and sloping rear windshields that gave the cars an almost backward silhouette.

Saab was also a pioneer in turbocharged engines, beginning with the release of the Saab 99 in the 1970s, and the first carmaker to offer heated seating, in 1971. In his namesake sitcom, Jerry Seinfeld was a proud Saab owner.

GM bought a 50 percent stake and management control of Saab for $600 million after it split from Swedish truck maker Scania in 1989. It bought full ownership in 2000 for $125 million more.

Even after the GM takeover, Saab remained closely associated with Sweden and its history of making safe, reliable cars. But GM never made money on the acquisition. Industry analysts complained Saab lost its distinctiveness in the crowded market for luxury cars under GM, which stripped it of its angular design.

"More and more frequently, they were using GM platforms and sheet metals, moving away from that uniqueness based on styling," said Tom Libby, an independent Detroit-area auto analyst. "There were styling cues that were unique to Saab - you see them and you say right away, 'Oh, that's a Saab.'"

It's the third time this year GM has failed to sell an unwanted brand. In September, auto industry magnate Roger Penske scrapped plans to buy Saturn after he was unable to find someone to make them when GM stops making them in 2011. GM is phasing out Saturn.

And last month, GM halted a deal to sell the European Opel brand to a group led by Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. GM will keep Opel, which, unlike Saab, it considers critical to its international plans.

GM did successfully sell Hummer, which will go to Chinese heavy equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. With Pontiac also closing, that leaves GM with just four brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

GM has endured an excruciating 2009. It came through bankruptcy and accepted more than $50 billion in government assistance, handing the government a majority stake. CEO Fritz Henderson was ousted in December, the second CEO to be forced out this year.

"This is a year that we'd choose not to repeat," GM Vice President John Smith told reporters Friday.

Saab employs about 3,400 people worldwide, most of them at its main plant in Trollhattan, Sweden. It also has a parts distribution center and a design center in separate locations in Sweden and an engine plant in Finland.

The brand has 1,100 dealers, who GM said will continue to honor warranties as the brand dies off.

"It's devastating. It was a very unique brand," said Ray Ciccolo, owner of two Saab dealerships in the Boston area, one of which has been in business since 1957.

Smith would not rule out the possibility that Saab might live on in some form, with some vehicles in development now that "might be attractive to some folks."

But no buyers have stepped forward, and GM plans to begin liquidating the brand in early January.

The Swedish government called the decision surprising and regrettable.

"It's GM who took this decision, on their own grounds, and they have to answer to that by themselves," Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson said at a news conference in Trollhattan. Stefan Lofven, head of the Swedish industrial workers' union IF Metall, said the news came as a shock.

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Associated Press Writers Stephen Manning in Washington and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm contributed to this report.

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UK officials: China sets date to execute Briton - The Sun News

Posted: 21 Dec 2009 08:23 AM PST

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Del. union seeking new life after GM - Delaware Online

Posted: 21 Dec 2009 08:38 AM PST

(4 of 5)

Among them is Bob Wilson, 54, who worked at the Boxwood plant for 24 years. An electrician, Wilson moved to Fort Worth, Texas, on Labor Day weekend to take a job at a GM service and parts operations facility.

Wilson's wife stayed behind in their Swedesboro, N.J., home. They plan to put their house up for sale next year and have her move down in the summer.

Being apart has been stressful, Wilson said, but a transfer seemed like the best option: He's only six years away from earning a full GM pension, there were few work options locally, and he and his wife are paying for their daughter's college education.

"I feel like I made the best decision for my family and my future," Wilson said. "It's not easy to just pack up and leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do."

For others, a transfer is a last resort. Henry Gonzalez, a 25-year veteran of the Boxwood plant, has been collecting unemployment and a supplemental benefit from GM known as SUB pay since the closing. Gonzalez lives in Millington, Md., and would prefer to stay in the region rather than move to the Midwest or Texas.

Gonzalez, like many local GM workers, is hoping that the company's transmission plant in White Marsh, Md., near Baltimore goes through an anticipated expansion and takes on former Boxwood Road workers.

In August, GM was awarded $105 million from the Energy Department to expand the White Marsh plant and another in Michigan to build a second-generation rear-wheel electric drive system. GM spokesman John Raut said the company has not yet announced how it will allocate the money.

Gonzalez, who comes from a family of autoworkers, cut grass during the summer and works part time at a video store. He's heard discussion about retraining for a new career, but at age 48, after spending more than half his life in a manufacturing plant, he said he's "almost like a dinosaur."

"At my age, when I hear retraining, I'm very skeptical of that avenue," Gonzalez said. "Believe me, I like to work. I like having a job. I don't want unemployment or even SUB [supplemental unemployment benefits] pay. I want to work. I'm willing to do what I have to do."

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EnCana seeks natural gas highway network - Stockhouse

Posted: 21 Dec 2009 06:50 AM PST

Calgary — One of Canada's biggest energy companies is asking the federal government for $1-billion to kick-start a transformation of the country's highways.

Over the past few months, EnCana Corp. has been in talks with government officials about a plan to build a network of hundreds of compressed and liquid natural gas fuelling stations between Windsor, Ont. and Quebec City, Canada's busiest highway corridor.

EnCana, one of the continent's biggest suppliers of natural gas, is also pushing Ottawa to create tax incentives for trucking companies that convert their 18-wheelers from diesel to natural gas engines. The company has been working together with Westport Innovations Inc., a maker of natural-gas-powered truck engines, and the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance to convince the Conservative government to include the spending item in its spring budget.

Asked about the proposal, a spokesperson for Natural Resources Canada said its "interest and assessment in all alternative and renewable transportation fuels is ongoing."

Though trucking companies and even Enbridge Inc., the country's largest natural gas distributor, remain skeptical of the new fuel source, EnCana has also supported a U.S. industry group that has held meetings with Detroit auto makers, in hopes of convincing them to make natural gas-powered pickup trucks, which could be used as corporate fleet vehicles.

It all amounts to a remarkable advocacy role for a company eager to stoke a bigger market for its prime commodity, and reflects the new reality that natural gas producers face, as new gas sources shake up the industry.

"It is a big step," said Eric Marsh, EnCana's executive vice-president of natural gas economy.

"We've moved into a new time period where natural gas is going to be abundant and affordable, and we need to explore these ideas to use natural gas a lot more than we have in the past … So we're going to push forward with trying to help others find natural gas to be an acceptable fuel for the future."

The past several years have brought a stunning change in the supply of natural gas, which was first considered in short supply, before technological advances made more gas accessible. North America is sitting on a century's worth of gas, based on current consumption.

EnCana has married that "abundance story" with the fact that natural gas-powered vehicles produce about a third less greenhouse gas emissions, and far fewer smog-producing particulates, than other engines. It hopes government spending will help solve the chicken-and-egg dilemma that all new transportation fuels must overcome: Who will buy the natural gas vehicles if there is no place to fuel them?

Though the company has identified several important corridors for such installations – it has begun talks with the B.C. and Alberta governments about building filling stations between Edmonton and Vancouver – the 1,150-kilometre stretch of Highway 401 from the U.S. border to Quebec carries a hefty chunk of the country's traffic.

Natural gas engines typically provide similar performance to their gasoline and diesel equivalents, but create a smaller carbon footprint and promise cheaper operating costs, since natural gas often sells for half the price of other fuels. As a result, they have begun to gain traction in urban transit and garbage fleets, and have been adopted for some specialized applications, like port drayage.

But lack of familiarity, a dearth of infrastructure and, until recently, worries that natural gas was running out, have kept it from gaining adoption.

"Virtually no vehicles are running on the technology," Mr. Marsh said.

EnCana and its partners are pushing Canada to adopt a tax credit similar to one offered in the U.S., where all 50 states offer up to a $32,000 (U.S.) credit to truckers who switch from diesel. They say natural gas is so cheap – and, thanks to its current abundance, will likely stay that way – that the higher purchase cost for a natural gas truck can pay itself back in 11/2 years. Fuel savings can cut operating costs by 25 to 30 per cent every year after that, they say.

Truckers, however, remain unconvinced. Although EnCana estimates that 40 per cent of trucks return to base every night, making them good candidates for natural gas refuelling, a single highway corridor would do little for the many long-haul trucks that cover the continent.

"It's like anything else that's brand new. It's kind of like when the first TV comes out – you're suspicious," said Ron Foxcroft, chief executive officer of Fluke Transportation Group, which runs 175 trucks within a 500-kilometre radius of Hamilton.

"And now, since the recession, we can't afford to gamble on anything."

Enbridge, whose 812-vehicle natural gas fleet is the biggest in Canada, has begun looking into whether it can provide some of the compression equipment and other infrastructure needed to make a natural gas highway a reality. Yet it remains cautious.

Natural gas-based fuels have "some reasonable potential," Enbridge chief executive officer Pat Daniel said in an interview. "The biggest challenge will be the investments required by truckers in order to be able to convert to natural gas, and the economics of that don't look overwhelming."

The biggest question, he said, is whether the government will provide incentives to truckers to switch. Truckers want measures like super-accelerated capital cost allowances to make the change – and those incentives are needed even if the math makes a natural gas engine look like a better deal, said Jonathan Burke, a vice-president at Westport, a Vancouver technology company that has teamed up with engine maker Cummins.

"This is a highly competitive, deregulated industry and there is a risk in being the first adopter who switches his fleet," he said. "What you're looking for is something to defer a certain amount of that risk."

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FBI: Murders fell 10 percent in first half of 2009 - Fresno Bee

Posted: 21 Dec 2009 08:38 AM PST

According to the FBI figures, reports of violent crime fell about 7 percent in cities with 1 million or more people. But in towns with 10,000 to 25,000 people, violent crime ticked up slightly by 1.7 percent.

Each city's data was different, but collectively pointed to less crime in every major category.

Nationwide, rape fell by 3.3 percent, and robbery by 6.5 percent. Arsons, which are subject to a variety of reporting standards, declined more than 8 percent.

The FBI's data for New York City shows 204 reported murders in the first half of 2009, compared to 252 in same period last year. By comparison, Oklahoma City saw reported killings increase from 26 to 32, the FBI said. Phoenix, Ariz., saw 10 fewer killings, dropping from 86 in the first half of 2008 to 76 in the first half of this year, according to the data.

Separate statistics compiled by the Justice Department measure both reported and unreported crimes.

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