BEIJING, May 31 -- General Motors Corp. president and Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson have scheduled a news conference in New York on Monday, when the Detroit automaker is expected to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to media reports Sunday.

    GM's board of directors met for a second day Saturday to make the final decision. The outcome of the meeting could not immediately be determined. GM and the Treasury Department, which has been guiding the Detroit automaker toward a rescue plan that will give taxpayers nearly a three-fourths stake in the company, went into secrecy mode.

   

A Dodge Nitro vehicle is seen in front of the General Motors Corp world headquarters in downtown in Detroit, May 28, 2009. General Motors Corp persuaded its major bondholders to accept a sweetened ownership plan on Thursday, a deal that could result in a smoother ride for the carmaker through bankruptcy. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    GM's bondholders had a 5 pm Saturday deadline to accept an offer to swap their 27 billion U.S. dollars in debt for at least a 10 percent stake in a new GM. If the Treasury doesn't get the amount of support it wants, bondholders could wind up with far less in bankruptcy court.

    The Treasury Department had no immediate comment on the deadline passing, and GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the automaker did not plan to make any statements Saturday.

   In a typical Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, the company files a plan of reorganization that must be voted on by creditors. In each class of creditors, the plan would have to be approved by holders of two-thirds of the claims and a majority of the number of individual creditors who vote.

    The auto maker, living on U.S. government loans, faces a Monday deadline imposed by the Obama administration to present a viable restructuring plan and access fresh federal aid. Bondholders disagreed on threatened efforts for a quick bankruptcy process that would allow GM to emerge with a sustainable balance sheet, removing much of the debt burden that has fueled losses alongside the slide in global auto sales.

    U.S. President Barack Obama said a liquidation and bankruptcy would have been the only option in the absence of a U.S. majority stake in troubled General Motors Corp. and that he expected the government to own less than 72 percent.

    "My preference would have been to stay out of it completely," Obama said in an interview with NBC News recorded on Friday at the White House and aired on Saturday. "But the alternative was to see a liquidation, bankruptcy in which an enormous institution with huge importance to our economy simply gets broken up in to pieces."

    GM took a huge restructuring step Friday when the United Auto Workers union agreed to a cost-cutting deal, and early Saturday, Germany's finance minister said a plan was approved for Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. to move ahead with a rescue of GM's Opel unit.

    But there was still much to do to beat the government's Monday deadline to qualify for more aid. The company already has received about 20 billion dollars in government loans and could get 30 billion dollars more to make it through what is expected to be a 60- to 90-day reorganization in bankruptcy court.

    The Treasury on Thursday offered bondholders 10 percent of a newly formed GM's stock, plus warrants to buy 15 percent more to erase the debt. Last week, GM withdrew an offer of 10 percent equity after only 15 percent of the thousands of bondholders signed up.

    It was unclear how many bondholders took the latest offer, although a group representing large creditors who hold 20 percent of debt agreed to it. If the 15 percent who took the first offer are added in, that would make 35 percent.

    Elliott Management Corp., a 13-billion-dollar hedge fund and major GM bondholder, also said it had decided to accept the new deal. But Spokesman Scott Tagliarino wouldn't say how much GM bond debt Elliott represents.

    Getting as many bondholders as possible to sign on to the offer in advance of a bankruptcy filing could help the automaker get through the court process more quickly, said Robert Gordon, head of the corporate restructuring and bankruptcy group at Clark Hill PLC in Detroit.

    "The more consensus you have, the more likely it is you'll be able to move through the bankruptcy process in an expeditious fashion with less resistance," Gordon said.

 (Source: China Daily/Agencies)

U.S. auto workers' union ratifies GM labor deal 

    DETROIT, the United States, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Auto Workers (UAW) union ratified a labor deal with General Motors Corp. on Friday, which will help the largest U.S. automaker to emerge more quickly from a possible bankruptcy.

    The contract was approved with an overwhelming 74-percent vote by its members, the UAW said after a conference at its Detroit headquarters on Friday afternoon. Full story

GM to build small cars in U.S. 

    DETROIT, May 29 (Xinhua) -- General Motors Corp. announced on Friday a plan to manufacture small cars in the United States, in a bid to revive its falling sales and production in home market.

    An idled GM assembly and stamping facility will be utilized and re-tooled, with a desired production of 160,000 cars annually. GM hopes the move will increase its U.S. production levels by more than 70 percent by 2013. Full story


U.S. gov't to own 72.5% of GM

A General Motors dealership is seen in Vienna, Virginia, May 27, 2009. General Motors Corp moved closer to filing the largest U.S. industrial bankruptcy after a crucial bond exchange proposal failed and as officials in Germany neared a decision on which company would take over GM's European brand, Opel.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. taxpayers soon may own 72.5 percent of General Motors stocks after GM reached an amended debt-for-equity deal with bondholders on Thursday.  Full story

GM pushed closer to bankruptcy filing

    CHICAGO, May 27 (Xinhua) -- With bondholders refusing to swap debt for a 10-percent stake, the largest U.S. automaker General Motors Corps. has been pushed closer to a bankruptcy filing.

    According to GM sources, the number of bondholders who agreed to swap debt for a 10-percent stake in the company was "substantially less" than the 90 percent mandated by the U.S. Treasury Department, which has loaned GM 19.4 billion U.S. dollars in a taxpayer money bailout.  Full story

Wall Street retreats on possible GM bankruptcy

    NEW YORK, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street retreated Wednesday as General Motors is close to bankruptcy.

    General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, said it failed to get 90 percent bondholders agree to swap their debt for company stocks. That means the automaker is almost definitely headed for bankruptcy court. GM tumbled 20 percent, or 29 cents per share, to 1.15 U.S. dollars.  Full story

Bondholder offer failure pushes GM closer to bankruptcy

    CHICAGO, May 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. is heading towards a bankruptcy filing after it failed to lure enough bondholders to swap debt for company stock, news reaching here from Detroit said Wednesday.

    The number of bondholders who agreed to the swap was "substantially less" than the 90 percent mandated by the U.S. Treasury Department, which has loaned GM 19.4 billion U.S. dollars, the Detroit News said.  Full story

GM makes last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy as deadline looms

    CHICAGO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- With the June 1 restructuring deadline approaching, General Motors reached a tentative labor agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in a bid to remove one of the major obstacles in its restructuring.

    However, the U.S. largest auto maker still has much ground to cover to avoid bankruptcy protection and dispel fears shared by investors, suppliers and dealers. Full story

GM gets $4 bln additional aid 

    CHICAGO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. automaker General Motors (GM) said Friday it borrowed another 4 billion U.S. dollars in federal aid from the Treasury Department as the company strives to present a restructuring plan to the government.

    The additional aid brings GM's total borrowing from the federal government to 19.4 billion dollars. Its original request to the U.S. Congress was 18 billion dollars in loans for its restructuring.  Full story

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis