>I now see that the radio has XM. Surely that's a recent modification. Makes
>ZERO sense to do a radio remake for XM and not include an iPod jack.
If Apple paid GM to put iPod connectors in, I'm sure they would.
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June 7, 1999: with GM's investment in XM, they enter into a 12-year
"Distribution Agreement" between XM and GM subsdiary, OnStar Corporation.
The agreement calls for exclusive installation of XM Satellite Radio into GM
vehicles from November 12, 2001 until November 2013. OnStar must meet
specific escalating installation rates each year, while XM must make
extensive payments to OnStar for the installation and sale of XM in their
vehicles, while sharing revenue earned from these radios with OnStar - as
well as payments on the exclusivity agreement.
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January 2003: with the launch and rollout taking longer and more costly than
expected, the company undergoes a large and complicated re-capitalization
plan. The plan involves XM exchanging US$300 million in old debt for new
debt, while deferring interest for 3-years on the notes; as well as
restructuring the payment obligations on the General Motors installation
agreement, issuing a convertible bond to GM, issuing a warrant for shares to
GM, and establishing a revolving credit facility with GM; and finally the
plan included new funding coming from a placement of over US$300 million in
10% convertible bonds to a group of private investors.
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XM has agreed to provide 128 kilobits per second of its bandwidth to OnStar
Corporation for use with XM-enabled GM vehicles, regardless of whether their
owners are XM subscribers
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The company's May 2004 proxy statement notes that four directors are subject
to director designation agreements with GM, American Honda, the chairman,
and the CEO. Four additional directors are investors, and two are not
affiliated with any significant stockholders.
At that time, GM owned 8.6% of the Class A common stock (a voting percentage
of less than 1%) and Honda owned 13% (with a voting percentage of 3.6%).
Unless they unanimously agree otherwise, control of the company remains with
the preferred shareholder and noteholders of the company, including Hughes
Electronics, GM, Honda, and several private investment groups.
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Steve
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