As the recent repayment of the loans granted to GM last year causes both satisfaction and debate, each of the parties related to the American carmaker express their opinion on the matter and try to emphasize the role each of them played in GM's fast recovery.
The latest group to do so is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which is obviously pleased with the outcome and expresses its confidence nothing would have been possible without the dealership network.
"Strong sales of GM's brands -- Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac -- through a network of thousands of GM dealerships across North America have enabled the company to repay more than $8 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments way ahead of schedule," NADA says in a statement.
"While tough challenges still remain, this is a positive development for taxpayers and a positive sign for auto manufacturing and retailing that will help contribute to an overall economic recovery."
Of course, NADA assumes GM repaid its loans from its earnings, a fact somewhat disputed by Republican senator Charles Grassley. The American official believes this is not the case, as the carmaker used the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to repay the debt.
“It is unclear how GM and the administration could have accurately announced yesterday that GM repaid its TARP loans in any meaningful way," Grassley said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
"The taxpayers are still on the hook, and whether TARP funds are ultimately recovered depends entirely on the government's ability to sell GM stock in the future."
The latest group to do so is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which is obviously pleased with the outcome and expresses its confidence nothing would have been possible without the dealership network.
"Strong sales of GM's brands -- Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac -- through a network of thousands of GM dealerships across North America have enabled the company to repay more than $8 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments way ahead of schedule," NADA says in a statement.
"While tough challenges still remain, this is a positive development for taxpayers and a positive sign for auto manufacturing and retailing that will help contribute to an overall economic recovery."
Of course, NADA assumes GM repaid its loans from its earnings, a fact somewhat disputed by Republican senator Charles Grassley. The American official believes this is not the case, as the carmaker used the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to repay the debt.
“It is unclear how GM and the administration could have accurately announced yesterday that GM repaid its TARP loans in any meaningful way," Grassley said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
"The taxpayers are still on the hook, and whether TARP funds are ultimately recovered depends entirely on the government's ability to sell GM stock in the future."