Global Auto Sales
General Motors is likely to regain the status of the world’s top-selling automaker, the Associated Press reports. From the AP:
Detroit-based GM lost the crown to Toyota in 2008 after holding it for more than seven decades. GM won't release global sales numbers until late January, but it's on pace to finish 2011 at around 9 million cars and trucks. That's at least 800,000 more than its German and Japanese rivals. Winning the global sales crown doesn't mean much to a company's bottom line, but for GM, it's an example of just how far the company has come since it nearly collapsed in 2009.
Lansing City Council Picks President
It took a marathon session, Steve Carmody reports, but the Lansing City Council finally chose a new council president last night. “The 8 member council is evenly divided into two factions. But after four hours of closed door talks, Councilman Brian Jeffries emerged as the next Lansing city council president. Jeffries admits work on the city budget may test the Lansing city council’s strained relations. Lansing may face a $12 to $15 million budget deficit next year,” Carmody explains.
Layoffs in Wayne County
Robert Ficano, the Executive of Wayne County, is laying off 44 workers, the Detroit Free Press reports. The layoffs were announced yesterday and include 13 of his appointees. From the Freep:
Ficano - whose administration is the target of a federal grand jury probe - has been under fire for months for the number of his appointees and their compensation. He approved a $200,000 severance to former Chief Development Officer Turkia Awada Mullin, who quit in September to run Metro Airport. None of the people slated for layoffs announced Monday will get severance payments, said Brooke Blackwell, a Ficano spokeswoman.
