General Motors, speeding up its restructuring in a bid to survive, plans to shut half of its 6,200 U.S. dealerships by 2014 and phase out its Pontiac brand by next year.
The dealership reduction, from 6,246 at the end of last year, marks a sharper decline than forecast on Feb. 17, when the count was projected to fall by 34 percent.
GM's revised viability plan submitted to the U.S. government today also said the automaker will offer stock to debt holders to reduce its crushing debt load.
GM said it will file for bankruptcy unless a sufficient number of debt holders agree to take stock before a government-imposed deadline of June 1. GM estimates that the swap must cover at least 90 percent of its unsecured debt to satisfy the Treasury Department.
GM cautioned that it will be up to Treasury to decide whether enough debt had been exchanged.
Brand strategy
The automaker will continue to invest in four core U.S. brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. In its earlier plan, Pontiac was to have continued as a niche marque.
The company also said that it is accelerating plans to spin off, sell or close Hummer, Saturn and Saab. Their futures will be resolved this year. In the previous, Feb. 17 restructuring plan, rejected by the Obama administration's auto task force, GM planned to determine the brands' fates before 2011.
GM said it has received final bids from potential buyers of Hummer. The company expects to make a final decision on Hummer's sale or phase-out in early May. Proposals to sell Saturn's distribution operations are being reviewed.
GM said if it files for bankruptcy protection, it may ask the court to sell most of its assets to a new operating company and liquidate the rest.
In citing risk factors, GM said former parts unit Delphi Corp. is unlikely to emerge from almost four years of bankruptcy "in the near-term without government support and possibly may not emerge at all."
Production, nameplate, worker cuts
GM also lowered its projections for North American production after the auto task force judged the previous expectations too optimistic.
GM forecasts production of 3.7 million vehicles in 2014, down from 4.1 million in the Feb. 17 plan.
The automaker plans to offer 34 U.S. nameplates in 2010, down from 48 last year. Marketing support will be "competitive," GM said. From 2010 through 2014, only one nameplate will be added.
GM also plans to shut more U.S. factories than proposed earlier. GM says it will have 34 powertrain, stamping and assembly plants by the end of next year, down from 37 in the Feb. 17 plan.
The number of U.S. hourly workers will also be significantly reduced. GM says it will have 40,000 hourly workers in 2010, down from 47,000 in the Feb. 17 plan and 61,000 in 2008.
