AUTO INDUSTRY
GM keeps truck names
General Motors will keep the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon names when it rolls out redesigned midsize pickup trucks next year.
Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann says the trucks will be markedly different from the current models.
He tells reporters at an industry conference in Northern Michigan that the Colorado will be targeted toward people who spend time outdoors. The Canyon will be tailored more for professional buyers.
Ammann says GM is keeping the old truck names because they have brand equity with customers.
He says midsize truck sales have fallen recently due to lack of compelling products.
Separately, Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson said the automaker doesn’t plan to pay a dividend in 2013.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen this year,” Akerson said, referring to the dividend, during an interview on Bloomberg Radio.
The U.S. invested $49.5 billion in GM, the biggest piece of an industry bailout that became a centerpiece policy in the first term of President Barack Obama. The automaker spent $5.5 billion in December to buy back 200 million of its shares from the U.S. Treasury. The U.S. government said at the time it would sell its remaining GM stake in 12 to 15 months.
“We hope the government will have sold their shares hopefully in the next probably three to six months, maybe a little longer,” Akerson said. “At that point in time, we’ll revisit our capital distribution expectations.”
Ford Motor Co., the second-biggest U.S. automaker, resumed paying a dividend last year. Akerson reiterated that GM’s top priority for cash is to reinvest in new cars and trucks.
“One of our strategic goals is to always have a fortress balance sheet and in doing so we can invest in both up and down economic cycles,” Akerson said. “We have such good cash flow post exit from bankruptcy that our primary goal is to continue to develop great products.”
FINANCE
Hilton plans restructuring
Hilton Worldwide Inc., the hotel operator owned by Blackstone Group LP, hired four banks for a $13 billion debt restructuring later this year in anticipation of going public in early 2014, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The hotelier, based in McLean, Va., hired Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley for the debt restructuring as well as the initial public offering, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
The refinancing would encompass bank debt, commercial mortgage-backed securities, high-yield bonds and time-share financing, the person said.
Blackstone’s 2007 takeover of Hilton for $26 billion, which included debt, was the largest ever of a hotel company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
— Bloomberg News