Part 5
Last month, Chrysler, which has (received) $7.8 billion in federal bridge loans, filed for bankruptcy in New York. It has since moved swiftly to create a new company, merged with Italian (automaker) Fiat and unsaddled of billions of dollars in debt -- despite the objections of its lenders -- so that it can (exit) bankruptcy soon.
A GM filing could (dwarf) that of Chrysler. Because of its size -- annual revenue tops $100 billion -- a GM filing would be considerably more complex and (expensive) than Chrysler's.
In February, GM said that Chapter 11 could (cost) as much as $100 billion. The Obama administration has not finalized how much money it would provide to GM to get the automaker (through) bankruptcy.
Even if GM avoids bankruptcy, it still has a lot of work to do. The company (plans) to reduce its U.S. dealership network by 42% in the next 18 months while cutting its (hourly) workforce in North America to 38,000 by 2014, compared with 61,000 in the first quarter of this year. It will sell its European Opel division, reduce the number of models it sells and (focus on) only four brands in the U.S.: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.