General Motors says its may go bankrupt

CARS/UNITED STATES - General Motors Corp. says it lost $2.5 billion in the third quarter and warned that it could run out of cash in 2009. On Monday the US Treasury rejected GM/Chrysler Merger Aid. Chrysler and GM have been hard hit by the automotive recession.

GM also said it has suspended talks to merge with Chrysler. While it didn't specifically name the automaker, GM said it was setting aside considerations for a "strategic acquisition.''

The automaker also said its cash burn for the quarter accelerated to $6.9 billion due to a severe U.S. auto sales slump.

The company on Friday reported a net loss of $4.45 per share during the quarter, compared with a record-setting loss of $39 billion, or $68.85 per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell to $37.9 billion from $43.7 billion, due largely to credit freezing across the globe.

The loss exceeded Wall Street estimates. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a loss of $3.70 per share on sales of $39.4 billion.

The struggling company announced it would improve liquidity by $5 billion by the end of next year by cutting capital spending, reducing sales promotions, and further cutting production in the first quarter. It also suspended the company match for its stock savings (401k) plan in the U.S.

"Even if GM implements the planned operating actions that are substantially within its control, GM's estimated liquidity during the remainder of 2008 will approach the minimum amount necessary to operate its business," General Motors said in a news release.

"Looking into the first two quarters of 2009, even with its planned actions, the company's estimated liquidity will fall significantly short of that amount unless economic and automotive industry conditions significantly improve" or it receives government funding, the GM news release said.

GM shares fell 53 cents, or 11 per cent, to $4.27 in morning trading.

General Motors is considering selling off its smaller brands: GM’s three biggest brands are Chevrolet, which accounted for 59% of 2007 sales, followed distantly by GMC at 13% and Pontiac at 9.4%. The five other GM brands lag far behind: Cadillac, with 5.6% of sales; and Saturn, 6.3%; Buick, 4.9%; and Saab, less than 1%. (Hummer accounted for 1.5%).

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Ford posts huge losses, warns of job cuts

Ford Motor Co. said Friday it lost $129 million in the third quarter as the struggling automaker burned through $7.7 billion in cash.

The automaker also said it will cut about 2,300 more white-collar employees in North America as it tries to weather the worst economic downturn in decades.

Ford said it lost six cents per share for the quarter, compared with a loss of $380 million, 19 cents per share, a year ago.

The company posted a pretax loss of $2.7 billion from continuing operations. This partly offset by a $2-billion gain as the company shifted retiree health care liabilities to a trust run by the United Auto Workers.

Ford's global automotive operations had a pretax loss of $2.9 billion for the quarter, compared with a pretax loss of $362 million a year earlier.

Sales fell 22 per cent to $32.1 billion from $41.1 billion due to lower volume and the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Ford said it lost $2.6 billion pretax in North America, compared with a loss of $1 billion in the year-ago period.

It recorded a pretax profit of $480 million in South America, compared with $386 million last year. In Europe, the company made $69 million, a sharp drop from the $293 million in the year-ago period.

Ford's Asia-Pacific operations made $4 million, down from $30 million. It lost $1 million on its interest in Mazda, compared with a profit of $14 million in the third quarter of last year.

Volvo lost $458 million, wider than the $167 million loss last year. Ford Motor Credit Co. had a pretax profit of $161 million, far lower than the $546 million in the same quarter last year.