GM Auctions Off Golf Course And Old Church Among Latest Assets To Hit The Block

Assembly lines, robots, grinders and mills were on the auction block this week as Motors Liquidation Co. — the old General Motors — sold off idled equipment at its shuttered Livonia engine plant.

The sale, which drew about 350 and lasted more than 10 hours, is one of several planned for this year and next as the old GM seeks to dispose of "bad assets" left behind when the new General Motors Co. emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.

The auction was at the plant and was webcast to bidders worldwide. The 1-million-square-foot plant once built the Northstar engine line for Cadillac and other high-end models. Only factory equipment was sold at the auction, not property. Another auction is planned for Nov. 4 at GM's now-closed Pontiac Assembly plant, which used to make full-size pickups. That sale will include basic manufacturing machinery, as well as some factory mementos, such as old Chevrolet signs, said Robert Levy, a partner with Hilco Industrial, LLC, which was hired by the old GM to liquidate factory machinery. Steve Blow, a spokesman for Motors Liquidation Co., declined to comment on how much money was made at the Livonia auction or the specifics of the sale.



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Steve - 10/21/2010 4:22:19 PM

-1 Boost

Gee, you'd think they would have sold off assets like this *before* they had to stoop to asking for billions of tax-payer dollars in bail-outs. And you'd think the US Government would have checked GM's assets to see if GM could sell some of them off before shelling out billions in life-support.

With all this extra cash, does this mean GM will buy back the GM shares that the US government purchased at grossly inflated prices, and pay book value? Fat chance. GM is "profitable." The only people hurting now are the scammed tax-payers, to whom GM's losses have been transferred.

Joe_Limon - 10/21/2010 6:24:25 PM

+3 Boost

hmmm, I think it's a good thing they are selling them now. The economy is better and they'll get more for their stuff... maybe... who knows how the machinery has depreciated.

toolatetorace - 10/22/2010 9:17:36 AM

-1 Boost

Used assembly equipment equipment ? This stuff gets sold for pennies on the dollar . Kind of like a neighborhood rummage sale

uaw_lax - 10/22/2010 12:16:44 PM

+3 Boost

It dont

upwards - 10/24/2010 3:06:57 AM

+1 Boost

Steve 9 times out of ten an auction is a last ditch effort to liquidate property because it will not sale as fast as you have planed for it to. So no one nose for sure when and how long GM was trying to move these assets.

internationalmanofmystery - 10/22/2010 9:08:02 AM

+1 Boost

Keep the churches GM, you just might need a prayer or two!