GM Feels the First Taste of Bankruptcy, Reports $6bn Loss

It may seem like bankruptcy becomes inevitable for General Motors too as even the so-many anti-recession moves it applied in the United States prove to be useless. The American giant today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2009, reporting a not surprising net loss of $6 billion, including special items. Some of you might not be impressed at all but take into account that this year's figures are almost double compared to the same period of the previous year when it unveiled a loss of "only" $3.3 billion.

Obviously, the company's officials did their homework before stepping in the front of the media and talked in a manner we already know by now, citing the global economic recession and lower industry-wide sales volume as the main reasons. Here's what GM's new CEO had to comment on the new financial results of the company:

“Our first quarter results underscore the importance of executing GM’s revised Viability Plan, which goes further and faster to lower our break-even point,” said Fritz Henderson, president and chief executive officer.

“Our Plan is designed to fix the fundamentals of our business by restructuring and deleveraging our balance sheet, enhancing our revenue capability and dramatically reducing costs. It’s focused on taking care of customers every single day, winning with four core brands, and investing in new products and technology, while at the same time accelerating actions to lower our cost structure to return GM to profitability quickly.”

Just for the record, GM's revenue in the first quarter of 2009 was $22.4 billion, down 47 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. GM's production volume fell by 903,000 units or 40 percent, on a global basis year-over-year.