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GM Out of Fortune 500's Top 10 for the First Time

Fortune Magazine released its annual Fortune 500 list of top-grossing companies in the U.S., and Wal-Mart reigns supreme after coming in second place last year. But what interests auto enthusiasts is to see how the U.S. most important carmakers rank in this list. Well, some of them pretty good, other simply sank well below the top 10.

It’s the case of former number one automaker in the world, General Motors, who is out of the Fortune 500’s top ten for the first time in its 101-year-old history. GM dropped from number 6 to number 15. The company recorded revenues of USD104.58 billion, but the profit is missing from the list.

Fortune Magazine views 2009 as a tornado for General Motors. The troubled company saw three CEOs, four divested car brands and a bankruptcy reorganization that left American taxpayers as its largest shareholders. Not to mention the 2,300 eliminated dealers, 10 closed plants and 21,000 layoffs. Anyway, things might be improving for GM. According to sources close to GM's CEO, Ed Whitacre, the loans secured by the American manufacturer from the US and Canada last year to help it survive Chapter 11 proceedings will be repaid in full this week. And that's a huge USD5.8 billion.

However, the other American auto giant, Ford, remained in the top 10, even if it dropped a spot, from number 7 to number 8. The company recorded revenues of USD118.3 billion and a profit of USD2.7 billion. If you’re looking for Chrysler on the list, don’t bother. The bankruptcy and reorganisation made the company dissappear from the 500 most important American companies.

Other companies in the top 10, after leader Wal-Mart, in descending order: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, General Electric, Bank of America, ConocoPhillips, AT&T, Ford, J.P. Morgan Chase and Hewlett-Packard.
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