GM Launches New Post-Bankruptcy Web Site

After filing for Chapter 11 restructuring and the U.S. government taking control of 60 percent of the company, GM showed off its new skin and commitment to bouncing back after entering the record books as the largest industrial bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

“Today marks a defining moment in the reinvention of GM. In the face of an economic crisis that has caused enormous disruption in the auto industry, we have reached ground-breaking agreements with the U.S. Treasury, the Canadian and Ontario governments, and the UAW and CAW unions, and we have the support of a substantial portion of GM’s bondholders. These agreements allow us to launch a leaner, quicker, more customer-focused and cost-competitive New GM,” wrote Fritz Henderson, GM’s chief executive officer, in an open letter posted in the company’s Web site.

Those agreements included an additional $30 billion in investment cash from the U.S. government for a 60 percent share of the company, and Canada will receive a 12 percent stake secured by an additional U.S. investment of $9.5 billion that kept GM from being forced to also file for bankruptcy north of the border. The United Auto Workers trust for health care expenses was expected to receive a 17.5 percent share, according to news reports.

Despite closing more than 40 percent of its 6,000 retail dealerships nationwide, cutting another 21,000 jobs and closing a dozen plants by the end of 2010 and dropping its Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands, industry evaluations of GM indicate that its truck business remains viable despite some longer production lead times than in past years. Ford has already announced that it is foregoing diesel chassis production in favor of gasoline, which could help GM’s market share.

As for vehicle financing, there was some concern about what would happen to GMAC. But Henderson said in his written statement that the agreements with the U.S. and Canadian governments strengthened that business as well.