GM Cuts: Time to Panic? Depends Who You Ask

(MoneyWatch)  General Motors might not quite fit my earlier definition of "desperate," but they're doing a good imitation. One editor pointed out that GM is sharing plenty of detail about the Chevy Volt, which is still a few years off. Spilling the beans on future product was one of my criteria for defining "truly desperate."

Be that as it may, GM's latest round of cost-cutting, announced on July 15, is spreading more than a whiff of panic. Poor GM. The more it reassures people, the worse it gets, because it's scary to think that GM thinks it needs to reassure people. Got that?

In an editorial following GM's latest cuts, The Detroit News insisted that this time it's different: "Tuesday's news should not be taken as just one more step down a long downsizing stairway for the auto industry," the paper said.

"General Motors acted because the financial markets were rapidly losing confidence in its ability to survive," the newspaper said. The paper criticized Wall Street for applauding GM for cutting jobs; the Michigan state government for not doing enough to attract business; and the federal government for choosing now of all times (several months ago, actually) to raise gas mileage standards.

As far as I can tell, "just one more step down a long downsizing stairway for the auto industry," is a perfect description. What makes it a crisis is that there have been so many downward steps before now.

The paper suggests that government regulators should go easy on the auto industry, until it can regain its "footing." No word how long that might take.

In a July 15 announcement, GM said it expects to save an extra $15 billion, on top of years of cost-cutting. The latest announcement includes harsh measures like eliminating healthcare benefits for retirees over 65 years old, cutting additional white-collar jobs, delaying the introduction of a new truck platform, and further cutting production of existing trucks.

In short, "the auto industry is at DefCon 4. It's time to panic," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, in a July 16 note.

Meanwhile, Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson seems to suggest in a July 15 note that if anything, GM isn't panicking enough: "[T]he announcements offered little sense of a 'new' GM strategy or shift in organizational culture that might set the stage for a more dramatic reinvention."

If GM's latest announcement can be seen as "business as usual," maybe it really is time to panic.