DETROIT - Executives of General Motors Corp.
and Ford Motor Co. have discussed a possible merger or
alliance, the trade journal Automotive News reported Monday.
Both companies declined comment.
Automotive
News quoted what it said were several people familiar with
the talks as saying that discussions involving senior
executives began in July and are not taking place now.
The journal quoted one source as saying that GM Chief
Financial Officer Fritz Henderson and his Ford
counterpart, Don Leclair, discussed a GM-Ford alliance in
August.
The report comes as GM and Ford have been slashing their
work forces and closing plants in efforts to reverse
multibillion dollar losses. Their sales have been hurt by
competition from more fuel-efficient models from Asian
automakers.
Two auto analysts said an outright GM-Ford merger is
unlikely, and even lower-level cooperation that now takes
place on such issues as hybrid vehicles, production
technology and components requires careful attention to
antitrust laws.
In July, GM, Renault SA of France and Nissan Motor Co. of
Japan announced a 90-day review of an alliance among them.
"As we've often said, GM officials routinely discuss
issues of mutual interest with other automakers," GM
spokesman Brian Akre said before business hours Monday.
"As a policy, we do not confirm or comment publicly on
those private discussions, which in many cases do not lead
anywhere."
Ford's Oscar Suris, also speaking before business hours,
said: "We're not commenting on speculation."
"It would surprise me if there were a coming-together on
the grand level," said David Cole, head of the Center for
Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.
"I don't see it from a business standpoint," said analyst
Charles Fleetham of Project Innovations in Farmington
Hills. "They have the same high health costs, high union
costs, ineffective white collar work force that they want
to get rid of."
Somewhere down the line, though, the number of companies
that make cars is going to shrink, Cole said.
"There's going to be more consolidation. I think it's
going to accelerate," Cole said.
Ford and GM very well could start more joint efforts
similar to their current work to develop a six-speed
automatic transmission, Cole said, adding, that contacts
between automakers "go on all the time at the senior
level."
Talk of alliances involving GM came after GM shareholder
Kirk Kerkorian, who owns a 9.9 percent stake in the
company, called for GM, Renault and Nissan to pursue an
alliance.
Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault and Nissan,
has said the benefits from an alliance would be similar to
the gains from the Renault-Nissan alliance, which have
included cost savings from joint purchases of auto parts.
Ford earlier declined to comment on an August Wall Street
Journal report that then-Chief Executive Bill Ford
approached Ghosn about a Ford alliance with Renault and
Nissan.
GM shares fell 26 cents to $31.40 in afternoon trading on
the New York Stock Exchange, while Ford shares fell 25
cents to $7.77.
