General Motors Sues Parts Supplier to Keep 2010 Chevrolet Camaro On Track

In addition to tightening its multibillion-dollar bootstraps, General Motors is making sure everything set in place before the $9.4 billion gift from American taxpayers continues as planned -- especially when it comes to big ticket items such as the upcoming 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. This week, it was revealed by The Wall Street Journal that the struggling automaker is suing one of its bankrupt suppliers in order to ensure production and deliveries of its much needed Camaro muscle car happens next year. The supplier, Troy, Michigan, based Cadence Innovation, was slated to make the Camaro’s consoles and door panels, among numerous other components. It filed for bankruptcy last August and began liquidation of its assets earlier this month. With the demise of one of its main suppliers, GM is facing a drastic ripple effect in production and sales that could cost it tens of millions of dollars. "Even one day's disruption in supply of certain component parts could cause a shutdown of GM assembly operations, disrupting not only GM's business, but the operations of countless suppliers, dealers, customers and other stakeholders," GM stated in the lawsuit filed with the U.S. bankruptcy court. In the suit, GM seeks to acquire Camaro-specific tooling and parts from Cadence in order to provide them to a new supplier by January 12, 2009. It goes without saying, if GM fails to keep its 2010 Camaro production on schedule, it won’t help its case for further federal assistance.