Report: GM bans political candidates from plants until after Election Day

Filed under: Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, GM

Looking to avoid becoming a lightning rod for the Presidential race, General Motors is asking the candidates not to tour its plants until after Election Day. Ever since its bankruptcy in 2009 where it received billions of taxpayer dollars, GM has been used as leverage by both sides of the political aisle, but the automaker is hoping that by eliminating the presidential and presidential-hopeful photo ops, it can distance itself a little more from the negative "Government Motors" label.

An article in the Detroit Free Press says that the auto bailout is expected to play a big role at the Democratic National Convention next month, and GM is still a key topic in this discussion as it is still 32 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury Department. GM has paid back $23 billion of the loans so far. Proof of GM's unwilling involvement in politics is evident by Vice President's recent quote stating: "Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive."

The efforts of the GM's bailout/bankruptcy recovery are still just as mixed as the issue was back in 2009. The automaker has seen big profits so far this year - $3.66 billion - and its credit rating was upgraded by Fitch Ratings, but its stocks are down 35.8 percent since 2010 meaning that the government's current investment in GM would be a loss of $15.6 billion if sold now.

In addition to GM, the article also states that the Chrysler Group is closing its doors to the politicians until after November 6. Unlike GM, Fiat-controlled Chrysler has fully repaid its government loans.

GM bans political candidates from plants until after Election Day originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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