Government Ownership & Plants Closing

 CEO Fritz Henderson said today was both "a difficult, but very important day for General Motors Corporation."

"The New GM will be owned primarily by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the governments of Canada and Ontario, the UAW's post retirement healthcare VEBA trust, and the unsecured creditors, largely the bondholders, of the old General Motors."

"The actions we need to take to launch the New General Motors also include a number of extraordinarily difficult steps. Especially tough are the actions to close additional plants and further reduce our U.S. hourly and salaried employment. I want to express my sincere and heart-felt appreciation and thanks to all who have sacrificed so much in this regard, who have sacrificed in the past and will sacrifice in the future, including our dealers, suppliers, retirees, plant communities, as well as those who will continue to invest and in fact share the sacrifice in the future and in the days ahead."

These plant closures include the Wilmington, DE plant (this July); Pontiac, MI (this October); Mansfield, OH and Livonia, MI (June 2010); Flint and Willow Run, MI as well as Parma (OH) and Frediricksburg (VA) (December 2010); not to mention the previously announced Grand Rapids, MI (this month) and Massena Castings, NY (last month). December 31, 2009 the Jacksonville, Columbus and Boston parts distribution centers will also be closing.