GM Cuts 20% of Its Marketing Staff

After US automakers GM and Chrysler announced at the beginning of this year their intention to cut off a significant percent of the marketing budget, the two companies finally got to this part of their restructuring.

General Motors is laying off 20 percent of its marketing and communications staff, Advertising Age reported. Without disclosing the size of the marketing department, inside sources say the department's human resources scheme will be cut to 175 people.

This measure was also imposed by GM’s June 1 deadline, gave by the federal government to either restructure or face bankruptcy court.

Meanwhile, Chrysler is trying to avoid bankruptcy as well. Only this time, the government alternative solution for the carmaker was to finalize a merger with Italy’s Fiat in order to qualify for another federal loan.

Though Fiat’s global operations dropped 18% since last year, the company still expects to post a profit for the entire year.

Fiat is offering to share its small-vehicle knowledge and technology with Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, but the number of models may be trimmed as a result of the 18 percent loss, said Lincoln Merrihew, senior VP of TNS Automotive. But Fiat's first-quarter stumble "isn't surprising given that the global auto industry is in a sinkhole," he added.

And what a battle of giants would be, if other speculations are to become true. Rumors say Fiat is also interested in GM’s European Opel brand. One of the consequences would be an Opel-based car for Chrysler, but keep in mind that GM’s Saturn brand already sells this kind of cars in the US.