BEIJING, March. 6 (Chinese medianet) -- The White House task force Thursday grilled General Motors Corp bondholders in a volley of renewed questions on the proposed terms of a debt-reduction deal seen crucial to keeping it from bankruptcy.
In a report released Thursday, auditors of General Motors raised "substantial doubt" about the troubled automaker's ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it couldn't execute a huge restructuring plan.
The "going concern" warning from the struggling automaker was expected, but served to highlight the scale of GM's problems as it seeks up to 30 billion dollars in U.S. government aid to help it survive a slump in sales.
"All the stakeholders involved are going to have to give in order to ensure that the restructuring takes place," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Earlier on Thursday, Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Italian automaker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) was questioned by the Obama administration auto's task force on the value and terms of its proposed alliance with Chrysler LLC.
Both GM and Chrysler have been kept afloat with emergency government aid since the start of the year and have requested a new round of funding from the autos panel chaired by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers.
Meanwhile, there was fresh bad news for car makers from dealership group Autonation Inc (AN.N), which said it would keep its orders of new vehicles reduced by 60 percent until there are clear signs of a turnaround.
Industry-wide U.S. auto sales have fallen 40 percent from their 2007 peak.
GM has been racing to complete deals with its bondholders and its major union to cut some 28 billion dollars in debt from its balance sheet in order to slash financing costs.
But those talks have been slow moving and GM's bondholders were seeking a federal guarantee for part of what they are owed.
(Agencies)
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