GM execs get bonuses
GM reported stock and cash benefits that vested this week. The awards were the first of multiyear incentive compensation packages granted in
2007. The value of the performance-based incentives is determined by the corporation's stock price at vesting.GM's shares have fallen by half in the last six months.
Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner gained 19,000 shares, worth $363,850 at the close of trading Thursday. President Fritz Henderson and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz each received 12,000 shares, worth $229,800. The three top executives surrendered 40% of the awarded restricted stock units at a price of $21 per share to cover the tax implications of the compensation.
Sixteen other top executives, combined, received cash bonuses equivalent to 119,539 shares, for a combined $2.29 million in cash incentive compensation. Prius is Korea-bound
Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will start selling the hybrid Prius and two other models in South Korea next year as it expands its offerings in the country beyond the luxury Lexus brand.
"It's a big challenge for Toyota," Chairman Fujio Cho said of the decision to enter South Korea under the Toyota brand. That market, which is dominated by domestic manufacturers including Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., is "pretty tough," he said. Toyota may miss target
Toyota Motor Corp. may miss its sales target this year as the strengthening yen makes its vehicles less competitive.
"The rapid fluctuation of the currency and the surge in materials costs are headaches for us," Vice President Tokuichi Uranishi said in Seoul. "If this continues, frankly, it'll be tougher to meet our goal." Chevy joint venture
General Motors Corp. says it has set up a joint venture to build Chevrolet cars and SUVs in Uzbekistan.
The company announced the agreement with manufacturer UzAvtoSanoat on Thursday in the capital of Tashkent.
GM says UzAvtoSanoat already does final assembly of a small number of Chevrolets from kits that come from South Korea.
UzAvtoSanoat will become a full manufacturer of Chevrolets, with plans to build 250,000 vehicles in the next few years. Delphi to sell bearings
Auto-parts supplier Delphi Corp. has won court approval to sell its wheel-bearings business to Kyklos Inc. for $46.2 million.
Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan approved the sale Wednesday following an auction last month.
Kyklos, a unit of Hephaestus Holdings Inc., beat out Resilience Capital's $44.2-million lead bid at last month's auction. Before the auction, Drain cleared Delphi to pay Resilience a $1.5-million breakup fee if its bid was topped at auction.
Delphi's bearing business, based in Sandusky, Ohio, employs 1,000 workers -- including 775 who are represented by the UAW.