Well, Honda automobile lost money, though the whole operation made a slight profit because of their motorcycle business.

Meanwhile, GM is having problems negotiating its bondholders, with the troubled automaker giving what says is a “final offer,” and the bond holders are blowing a gasket over this:

Today’s posturing makes it clear that the company and the auto task force would rather discount the thousands of individual investors and retirees who own GM bonds than undergo earnest negotiations.

I think that the bond holders think that they can do with GM what was done with GMAC, throw a tantrum, and get what they want, but the market has already discounted these bonds by over 85%, and the offer is a better deal than that.

On Chrysler’s side, things look better with both the UAW and the bondholders coming to agreements with the auto firm.

The UAW will a get 55% equity stake in Chrysler, in exchange for concessions, but I’m still a pessimist, and believe that they are getting 55% of what will turn out to be nothing.

I think that the bondholders for GM have unrealistic expectations of the carmaker’s survival.

I would say that even if GM gets the bondholders to an agreement, they still have to figure out how to cut dealerships without declaring bankruptcy.

Getting out of those franchise agreements would be difficult otherwise, unless Congress gets into the act to streamline the process, which I do not expect, since car dealers are big political donors.