GM needs $5 bln more government aid 'soon'

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 7:06 AM Posted by Beijing News


General Motors will need five billion dollars in additional government aid "soon," chief executive Fritz Henderson said Friday in an update on the troubled automaker's restructuring plans.

Henderson, who took the helm at GM as the US government forced a shake-up as part of a bailout deal, has been given 60 days by the White House to come up with a strengthened viability plan or face a likely bankruptcy.

"We expect to need about five billion dollars in government funding soon," Henderson said. "It is premature to say there's been an approval for further funding."

President Barack Obama has pledged to provide GM and bailed-out rival Chrysler with "working capital" to come up with new business plans to weather the crisis that has hammered the auto sector.

GM has already received 13.4 billion dollars from the federal government to help shore up the company.

The two automakers are now seeking an additional 21.6 billion dollars in government aid, which will only be forthcoming if they submit more realistic plans.

Henderson said it was too soon to say if the auto giant would be able to avert bankruptcy but repeated his preference for an out-of-court restructuring.

He said the new GM plan would mean "further reduction in facilities," adding that "plant closings will have to go further than the February plan" rejected by a White House auto panel.

The CEO added that reports suggested GM would shed its GMC brand of pickups and four-wheel drive vehicles was "speculation" and that this remained one of the automaker's "core" brands including Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac.







A man works on the rotor head of a windmill at the fair grounds in Hanover, Germany, where preparations are under way for the Hannover Messe fair for industrial technology. AFP/DDP/Nigel Treblin

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