Big Three, Bankruptcy | featured news

General Motors Corp is expected to slash up to 1,200 dealers as it struggles to dramatically pare down its operations and eliminate billions of dollars of costs ahead of an anticipated bankruptcy filing by the end of this month.

The carmaker, which filed for bankruptcy protection two weeks ago, sent letters to 789 of its 3,200 American dealers revoking their franchises.

General Motors' financial woes continue as the automaker teetering on the edge of bankruptcy reported a $6 billion loss during the first three months of the year Thursday.

Things were already tough in Kokomo, Indiana.

The fate of Chrysler shifted from Washington to a Manhattan courtroom on Friday, as lawyers for the automaker sought a settlement with creditors.

With a bankruptcy filing by Chrysler appearing all but certain, President Obama will address the fate of the automaker at noon.

Chrysler’s unsecured creditors have reached a preliminary deal with the Treasury Department, two people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.

The Obama administration remains focused on bringing Chrysler and Fiat into a working partnership, a U.S. official said on Thursday, dismissing a news report that the U.S. car-maker faced imminent bankruptcy.

General Motors Corp. will not make a $1 billion debt payment due June 1, its CFO, Ray Young, told reporters on Wednesday. Instead, it is hoping to complete a debt-for-equity exchange or be forced to resort to bankruptcy.

GM's stock plummeted on the news.

The Treasury Department is directing General Motors to lay prepare for a bankruptcy filing by June 1, despite GM's assertion that it could still reorganize without such a filing, The New York Times reported unnamed sources as saying on Monday.