An American Icon on the Brink, Millions of Jobs at Stake: CNBC Presents 'Saving General Motors: Inside the Crisis' Premiering Monday, December 8, 2008

cnbc.com - December 05, 2008

(PRNewsChannel) / Englewood Cliffs, N.J. / The drama unfolds daily. A once reigning symbol of American industrial might faces the real possibility of disappearing, taking with it millions of jobs. An American public furious over seemingly endless billion dollar bailout packages -- using their tax money -- wonders where it will all end.

On Monday, December 8th at 10PM ET, CNBC presents "Saving General Motors: Inside the Crisis," an original one-hour documentary reported by Phil LeBeau. With a timely update to its original documentary (OAD 8/6/08), CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, takes an unprecedented look inside GM, a company banking its survival on a congressional rescue package.

Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac… General Motors is the quintessential American industrial icon, a symbol of U.S. manufacturing might for nearly a century, a Dow component and the country's largest car company. But it is also a company fighting a legacy of bad decisions, a reputation for poor quality, gas guzzling cars, and foreign competition.

LeBeau speaks directly to GM's senior executives about the unfolding crisis, challenging CEO Rick Wagoner about his performance, probing President Frederick Henderson about the company's restructuring plan, and eliciting from GM's Vice Chairman Bob Lutz a candid admission of the company's past failures in car quality and design.

CNBC takes viewers behind the scenes of the development of the all-new Chevrolet Camaro. From the design lab in Melbourne, Australia, to sub-zero testing in Northern Canada, to a test drive with NASCAR giant Dale Earnhardt Jr., CNBC follows the rebirth of one of GM's most storied models.

LeBeau interviews Warren Kennedy, a GM lifer and UAW hourly worker, who after 31 year with GM is accepting the company's buyout offer, and follows him during a typical day on the job to discuss his work, decision to retire and thoughts about GM's shrinking workforce, salaries and benefits.

With volatile oil prices, GM is placing a massive financial bet on alternative fuel vehicles, especially an "extended range" electric car called the Chevrolet Volt. In addition to engineering and development work, GM is already spending millions advertising the promise of the Volt, despite the fact that the car relies on a high performance battery technology that is still undeveloped. It's the battery that remains the biggest question mark with the Volt; will it be a game changer, or a deal breaker?
Phil LeBeau is CNBC's auto and airline industry reporter. Mitch Weitzner is the executive producer of "Saving General Motors." Wally Griffith is the senior producer.

For more information including web extras and extended video clips, log onto insidegm.cnbc.com.

About CNBC: CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 400 million homes worldwide, including more than 95 million households in the United States and Canada. The network's Business Day programming (weekdays from 5:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and also includes reports from CNBC news bureaus worldwide. Additionally, CNBC viewers can manage their individual investment portfolios and gain additional in-depth information from on-air reports by accessing www.cnbc.com.

Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://nbcumv.com/cnbc/.

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