General Motors applies for bankruptcy
With debts of over $170 billion, today's bankruptcy petition from General Motors is the largest corporate collapse in US history. This marks the next stage of the rebuilding and restructuring of a company which is over 100 years old and had operations in the vast majority of countries around the world. Yesterday we reported on the European division which has been carved up and sold off and today it is the turn of the US operation to seek protection from creditors.
The US and Canadian governments have combined to inject $30 billion into the operation in a bid to secure the future of the company. However, current shareholders will be left with nothing as the US and Canadian governments together with the unions will take the lion's share of the new look operation. However, with over 235,000 employees globally there are sure to be significant redundancies around the world, as the new look General Motors starts to take shape.
We will see a number of factories closed, we will see some subsidiaries either sold off or closed down and we will see a new approach to the future of car manufacturing. Whether this incorporates more green issues associated with travel remains to be seen.
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