GM in hunt for capital injection, and fresh wobbles at Ford

FT Oct 22/08

GM in hunt(狩） for Buffett-style capital injection
-------------------------------------------
Ford has little room for manoeuvre(策略）
-----------------------------------------

General Motors is seeking a sizeable capital injection from outside investors as a possible alternative to a deal with Chrysler. Such investment would be along the lines of Warren Buffett's recent purchases of minority stakes in GE and GS.

One banker questioned GM's chances of finding an outside investor. " I just do not think most private equity guys are that enamoured of（魅せられる） the auto industry and I do not know how you could try to secure it in some way." he said.

Renault-Nissan group has also studied a closer relationship with Chrysler that would fall short of (届かない、不足する）an acquisition.
Nissan already has three manufacturing agreements on small cars and pick-up trucks with Chrysler and is discussing others for vehicles such as mid sized cars.

Ford
Attention turned to fresh wobbles(動揺する） at Ford Motor.
KirK Kerkorian, the 91 year old scourge(災難、悩み） of Detroit's boardrooms, said he was selling some of his more than 6 per cent stake in Ford, and might sell all of it.

Ford's share price down 4.7% to $2.22 in lunchtime trading and diverted（そらす、転ずる） attention away from GM.

Mr. Kerkorian's exit comes in a turbulent（激しい、騒々しい） month for Ford, which last week saw the resignations of Jorma Ollila and Sir Jhon bond, two of its most experienced board members.

The bad news is that Ford now has little room for manoeuvre. Apart from its Mazda stake, virtually all its assets are now mortgaged to lenders.

Jim Farley, Ford's marketing chief, said last week that total light vehicle sales this month were running at an annual rate of 11m to 12 m units, compared with 12.5m in September and more than 16m a year ago.

Ford's US fortunes depend heavily on the F-150 pick up truck, its top selling model and the biggest contributor to profits.