DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
General Motors Corp. (GM), on the brink of a Chapter 11
bankruptcy filing, said Friday it plans to build a subcompact car
in one of its idled U.S. facilities to boost its competitiveness
with foreign auto makers.
"Small cars represent one of the fastest growing segments in
both the U.S. and around the world," said Chief Executive Fritz
Henderson. "We believe this car will be a winner with our current
and future customers in the U.S."
A site will be selected in the future, GM said. Also, a specific
product wasn't identified, but the company said the vehicle would
add to GM's portfolio of U.S.-built fuel-efficient small cars
including the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt.
The project would be part of a continued revamping at the auto
maker, which is expected to file for bankruptcy protection on
Monday and begin a U.S. government-led restructuring.
Early this week, GM and the United Auto Workers agreed to a new
restructuring plan that would give the union a significantly
smaller stake in the company than previously envisioned, and leave
the U.S. government owning as much as 70% of the car maker. Under
the new UAW terms, the union's health-care trust would own 17.5% of
a reorganized GM, in exchange for retiree health-care concessions.
An earlier revamping worked out by the Treasury Department and GM
would have given the union 39% and the government 50%.
"I would like to personally thank the UAW for agreeing to work
with us to ensure our overall manufacturing competitiveness in the
United States," Henderson said Friday. The CEO said it "takes a
special effort by everyone to bring a domestically produced small
car to market in a cost-competitive and profitable way - but that
is what we are going to do together."
The re-tooled plant will be capable of building 160,000 cars
annually, which can be a combination of both small and compact
vehicles.
GM shares recently fell 16 cents, or 14.7%, to 95 cents.
-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5658;
mike.barris@dowjones.com