Gas prices drop before July 4 weekend

After two months of increases, gas prices are dropping and should go lower heading into the July 4 weekend.

The average price of regular fell to $2.52 in metro Atlanta Sunday, down from $2.57 a week ago.

The national average was $2.64, also down a nickel.

“All the indicators reflect that the peak price is behind us and we can now expect retail gasoline prices to edge downward, even as we approach the Independence Day weekend,” AAA Auto Club South spokesman Gregg Laskoski said.
With high oil inventories and weak demand, experts are predicting further drops in retail prices. Crude oil closed Friday at $69.16 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The high this year was $72.04 per barrel on June 12.
The auto club has predicted that 25,000 fewer Georgians will take road trips over the holiday weekend, compared to last year. But officials say falling gas prices could prompt some families to reconsider.
AAA also noted that 4,000 more Georgians will fly over the July 4 weekend, taking advantage of affordable plane tickets.
All told, a projected 1,067,000 Georgians will travel.

GM dealer: Leaner times ahead

In becoming a leaner company, GM will get rid of nearly 7,000 of its white collar executives in the next 14 or 15 months, Mader said. There are currently about 35,000 executives.
GM has approximately 235,000 employees worldwide, Mader said. Only 91,000 are in the United States.
Retirees may also be hit. "The amount of non-qualified pensions for some executive retirees may be affected," Mader said. "They may go through a little suffering here."
As for the dealers, the hardest hit will be dealerships in rural areas with low volume. Next to suffer cuts will be the Cadillac dealerships. Right now, there are approximately three Cadillac dealerships for every one Lexus dealership, Mader said. Plans are to reduce that ratio to about 1.5 per Lexus dealership.
"Cadillac dealers are going to disappear very quickly," Mader said. And in many cases, they are the ones with the longest legacies.
"If anybody has been around for three or four generations, it's Cadillac dealers. "They once passed from father to daughter to son. It's coming to an end, shortly.
"The idea being a leaner company with less to support," Mader said.

GM expected to keep its stake in auto racing

General Motors Corp. is expected to continue its long-time involvement in auto racing as the Detroit carmaker retools after bankruptcy.

A company spokesman said today he didn’t expect budget cuts to GM Racing’s program, which had already been scaled back earlier in the year.

GM supports teams in NASCAR, NHRA, ALMS and short-track racing. It provides marketing support and vehicles to racetracks around the country, including Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where the LifeLock 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race will be held June 14.

GM also provides cash and technical aid to race teams like Hendrick Motorsports in Charlotte, N.C., who field Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski of Rochester Hills.
Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, spoke out on GM’s bankruptcy announcement in a statement today.

“Since I was a kid, Chevy has represented the highest level of performance,” said Hendrick, who runs the Chevy Impala SS in Sprint Cup. “I’ve never wanted to race anything else, and I have every confidence that we will continue to celebrate victories together for many more seasons to come.”
Between them, Gordon and Johnson have won seven series championships in Chevrolets for Hendrick.