At 6:30am ET, General Motors officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Detroit automaker entered bankruptcy on June 1st, but was able to emerge is just 39 days, largely due to the blueprint laid out by Chrysler’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Company executives promise the new GM – which is majority owned by the federal government – will be leaner and meaner, nixing the over-bureaucratic nature of the old company. “I’m very much looking forward to the point where we’re operating in the clean air and the name of the company not being associated with bankruptcy,” GM sales chief Mark LaNeve told Automotive News just one day before GM emerged from bankruptcy.
GM’s sales plunged by 36 percent in June as it worked through bankruptcy court.
As part of the new plan for GM, the automaker with be thinning its global executive ranks by about 35 percent, with a 20 percent cut in white collar position planned for the U.S. GM says the job cuts will be completed by October.
GM’s emergence from bankruptcy will also see Bob Lutz staying on with the company. Lutz, 77, announced his plans to retire earlier this year but will instead stay on as head of GM’s global marketing and communications. Lutz was the former head of GM’s global development.
No timeframe has been given for GM to pay back its more than $50 billion in taxpayer funded loans, but the company could offer an IPO as early as next year.
