Amendment No. 8 to Form S-1
Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 16, 2010

No. 333-168919

 

 

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

AMENDMENT NO. 8

TO

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware   3711   27-0756180
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)  

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

  (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

300 Renaissance Center

Detroit, Michigan 48265-3000

(313) 556-5000

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

Nick S. Cyprus

Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer

General Motors Company

300 Renaissance Center

Detroit, Michigan 48265-3000

(313) 556-5000

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies of all communications, including communications sent to agent for service, should be sent to:

 

Robert C. Shrosbree, Esq.

General Motors Company

300 Renaissance Center

Detroit, Michigan 48265-3000

(313) 556-5000

 

Joseph P. Gromacki, Esq.

William L. Tolbert, Jr., Esq.

Brian R. Boch, Esq.

Jenner & Block LLP

353 N. Clark Street

Chicago, Illinois 60654-3456

(312) 222-9350

 

Richard A. Drucker, Esq.

Sarah E. Beshar, Esq.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

450 Lexington Avenue

New York, New York 10017

(212) 450-4000

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

 

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box.  ¨

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

  Large accelerated filer  ¨      Accelerated filer  ¨
  Non-accelerated filer (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)   x    Smaller reporting company  ¨

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

Title of Each Class of

Securities to be Registered

 
Amount to be
Registered
  Proposed
Maximum
Offering Price
Per Share
  Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price (1)
  Amount of
Registration Fee (2)

Common stock, par value $0.01 per share

  419,750,000   $33   $13,851,750,000   $987,630

Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share (3)

    92,000,000   $50      $4,600,000,000   $327,980

Common stock, par value $0.01 per share

          24,982,758 (4)   $29        $724,500,000     $51,657

Common stock, par value $0.01 per share

            7,318,181 (4)   $33        $241,500,000     $17,219
 
 
(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

(2) An aggregate of $1,165,560 of this amount was previously paid in connection with (1) the August 18, 2010 filing of the original Registration Statement on Form S-1 to which this Amendment No. 8 relates and (2) the November 3, 2010 filing of the Amendment No. 5 to such original Registration Statement on Form S-1.

(3) In accordance with Rule 457(i) under the Securities Act, this registration statement also registers the shares of our common stock that are initially issuable upon conversion of the Series B preferred stock registered hereby. The number of shares of our common stock issuable upon such conversion is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events described herein and will vary based on the public offering price of the common stock registered hereby. Pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act, the number of shares of our common stock to be registered includes an indeterminable number of shares of common stock that may become issuable upon conversion of the Series B preferred stock as a result of such adjustments.

(4) Represents common stock that may be issued as dividends on Series B preferred stock in accordance with the terms thereof.

The registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


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EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Registration Statement contains a prospectus relating to an offering of shares of our common stock (for purposes of this Explanatory Note, the Common Stock Prospectus), together with separate prospectus pages relating to an offering of shares of our Series B preferred stock (for purposes of this Explanatory Note, the Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus). The complete Common Stock Prospectus follows immediately. Following the Common Stock Prospectus are the following alternative and additional pages for the Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus:

 

   

front and back cover pages, which will replace the front and back cover pages of the Common Stock Prospectus;

 

   

pages for the “Prospectus Summary—The Offering” section, which will replace the “Prospectus Summary—The Offering” section of the Common Stock Prospectus;

 

   

pages for the “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Series B Preferred Stock and Common Stock” section, which will replace the “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock” section of the Common Stock Prospectus;

 

   

pages for the “Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges and Preferred Stock Dividends” section, which will be added to the Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus;

 

   

pages for the “Description of Series B Preferred Stock” section, which will replace the “Concurrent Offering of Series B Preferred Stock” section of the Common Stock Prospectus;

 

   

pages for the “Material U.S. Federal Tax Considerations” section, which will replace the “Material U.S. Federal Tax Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders” section of the Common Stock Prospectus; and

 

   

pages for the “Underwriting” section, which will replace the “Underwriting” section of the Common Stock Prospectus.

In addition, the following disclosures contained within the Common Stock Prospectus will be replaced in the Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus as follows:

 

   

the reference to “—Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock—” contained in the last sentence of footnote (2) to the beneficial ownership table included in the “Principal and Selling Stockholders” section of the Common Stock Prospectus will be replaced with a reference to “—Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Series B Preferred Stock and Common Stock—” in the Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus.

 

   

the reference to “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock—Canada Holdings, a selling stockholder in the common stock offering, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Development Investment Corporation, which is owned by the federal Government of Canada, and your ability to bring a claim against Canada Holdings under the U.S. securities laws or otherwise, or to recover on any judgment against it, may be limited” contained in the last sentence of footnote (3) to the beneficial ownership table included in the “Principal and Selling Stockholders” section of the Common Stock Prospectus will be replaced with a reference to “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Series B Preferred Stock and Common Stock—Canada Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Development Investment Corporation, which is owned by the federal Government of Canada, and your ability to bring a claim against Canada Holdings alleging any complaint, or to recover on any judgment against it, may be limited” in the Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus.

Each of the complete Common Stock Prospectus and Series B Preferred Stock Prospectus will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance with Rule 424 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The closing of the offering of common stock is not conditioned upon the closing of the offering of Series B preferred stock, but the closing of the offering of Series B preferred stock is conditioned upon the closing of the offering of common stock.


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The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. The selling stockholders may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell the securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy the securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED NOVEMBER 16, 2010

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

365,000,000 Shares

LOGO

Common Stock

 

 

Selling stockholders, including the United States Department of the Treasury, are offering 365,000,000 shares of our common stock. We are not selling any shares of our common stock in this offering. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares by the selling stockholders.

 

 

Currently, no public market exists for our common stock. We currently estimate that the public offering price of our common stock will be between $32.00 and $33.00 per share. Our common stock has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “GM”. The Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of our common stock under the symbol “GMM”, subject to our fulfilling all of the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The selling stockholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 54,750,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, within 30 days from the date of this prospectus.

Concurrently with this offering, we are also making a public offering of 80,000,000 shares of our Series B preferred stock. In that offering, we have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 12,000,000 shares of Series B preferred stock to cover over-allotments. We cannot assure you that the offering of Series B preferred stock will be completed or, if completed, on what terms it will be completed. The closing of this offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the offering of Series B preferred stock, but the closing of our offering of Series B preferred stock is conditioned upon the closing of this offering.

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 16 of this prospectus.

 

     Per Share      Total  

Public offering price

   $                                $                    

Underwriting discounts and commissions

   $         $     

Proceeds, before expenses, to the selling stockholders

   $         $     

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or the accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares of common stock to investors on or about                     , 2010.

 

 

 

Morgan Stanley   J.P. Morgan   BofA Merrill Lynch     Citi   
Barclays Capital   Credit Suisse   Deutsche Bank Securities
Goldman, Sachs & Co.     RBC Capital Markets

 

 

 

Bradesco BBI   CIBC   COMMERZBANK

 

 

 

BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC   ICBC International   Itaú BBA     Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets   

 

CICC   Loop Capital Markets   The Williams Capital Group, L.P.   Soleil Securities Corporation

 

 

The date of this prospectus is                         , 2010.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page  

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

     1   

RISK FACTORS

     16   

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     36   

USE OF PROCEEDS

     38   

DIVIDEND POLICY

     39   

CAPITALIZATION

     40   

SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA

     41   

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     44   

BUSINESS

     166   

MANAGEMENT

     196   

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

     212   

PRINCIPAL AND SELLING STOCKHOLDERS

     235   

CERTAIN STOCKHOLDER AGREEMENTS

     238   

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     242   

CONCURRENT OFFERING OF SERIES B PREFERRED STOCK

     244   

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

     248   

SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

     256   

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL TAX CONSIDERATIONS FOR NON-U.S. HOLDERS

     258   

UNDERWRITING (Conflicts of Interest)

     262   

SELLING RESTRICTIONS

     269   

LEGAL MATTERS

     281   

EXPERTS

     281   

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

     281   

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1   

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

     F-251   

 

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

In this prospectus, unless the context indicates otherwise, for the periods on or subsequent to July 10, 2009, references to “we,” “our,” “us,” “ourselves,” the “Company,” “General Motors,” or “GM” refer to General Motors Company and, where appropriate, its subsidiaries. General Motors Company is the successor entity solely for accounting and financial reporting purposes to General Motors Corporation, which is sometimes referred to in this prospectus, for the periods on or before July 9, 2009, as “Old GM.”

General Motors Company was formed by the United States Department of the Treasury (UST) in 2009. Prior to July 10, 2009, our business was operated by Old GM. On June 1, 2009, Old GM and three of its domestic direct and indirect subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 (Chapter 11 Proceedings) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (Bankruptcy Code) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Bankruptcy Court). On July 10, 2009, we, through certain of our subsidiaries, acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of Old GM (the 363 Sale). The accompanying audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include the financial statements and related information of Old GM as it is our predecessor entity solely for accounting and financial reporting purposes. On July 10, 2009 in connection with the closing of the 363 Sale, General Motors Corporation changed its name to Motors Liquidation Company, which is sometimes referred to in this prospectus for the periods on or after July 10, 2009 as “MLC.” MLC continues to exist as a distinct legal entity for the sole purpose of liquidating its remaining assets and liabilities.

 

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Neither we, the selling stockholders nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide any information other than that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We, the selling stockholders and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We have not, the selling stockholders have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with different information. We are not, the selling stockholders are not and the underwriters are not making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and in any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us to which we have referred you is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus or the date of such free writing prospectus, as applicable. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

For investors outside the United States: Neither we, the selling stockholders nor any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. You are required to inform yourselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

Information relating to our relative position in the global automotive industry is based upon the good faith estimates of management, and includes all sales by joint ventures on a total vehicle basis, not based on the percentage of ownership in the joint venture.

 

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary highlights aspects of our business and this offering, but it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the “Risk Factors” section and our audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and related notes, before making an investment decision.

GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY

Our Company

We are a leading global automotive company. Our vision is to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles. We seek to distinguish our vehicles through superior design, quality, reliability, telematics (wireless voice and data) and infotainment and safety within their respective vehicle segments. Our business is diversified across products and geographic markets, with operations and sales in over 120 countries. We assemble our passenger cars, crossover vehicles, light trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans and other vehicles in 71 assembly facilities worldwide and have 88 additional global manufacturing facilities. With a global network of over 21,000 independent dealers we meet the local sales and service needs of our retail and fleet customers. In 2009, we and Old GM sold 7.5 million vehicles, representing 11.6% of total vehicle sales worldwide. Approximately 72% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume was generated outside the United States, including 38.7% from emerging markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (collectively BRIC), which have recently experienced the industry’s highest volume growth.

Our business is organized into three geographically-based segments:

 

   

General Motors North America (GMNA), with manufacturing and distribution operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and distribution operations in Central America and the Caribbean, represented 33.2% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume. In North America, we sell our vehicles through four brands – Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac – which are manufactured at plants across the U.S., Canada and Mexico and imported from other GM regions. In 2009, GMNA had the largest market share of any competitor in this market at 19.0% based on vehicle sales volume.

 

   

General Motors International Operations (GMIO), with manufacturing and distribution operations in Asia-Pacific, South America, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, is our largest segment by vehicle sales volume, and represented 44.5% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume including sales through our joint ventures. In these regions, we sell our vehicles under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, FAW, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel and Wuling brands. In 2009, GMIO had the second largest market share for this market at 10.2% based on vehicle sales volume and the number one market share across the BRIC markets based on vehicle sales volume. Approximately 54.9% of GMIO’s volume is from China, where, primarily through our joint ventures, we had the number one market share at 13.3% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009.

 

   

General Motors Europe (GME), with manufacturing and distribution operations across Western and Central Europe, represented 22.3% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume. In Western and Central Europe, we sell our vehicles under the Opel and Vauxhall (U.K. only) brands, which are manufactured in Europe, and under the Chevrolet brand, which is imported from South Korea where it is manufactured by GM Daewoo Auto & Technology, Inc. (GM Daewoo) of which we own 70.1%. In 2009, GME had the number five market share in this market, at 8.9% based on vehicle sales volume.

We offer a global vehicle portfolio of cars, crossovers and trucks. We are committed to leadership in vehicle design, quality, reliability, telematics and infotainment and safety, as well as to developing key energy efficiency,

 

 

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energy diversity and advanced propulsion technologies, including electric vehicles with range extending capabilities such as the new Chevrolet Volt.

Our company commenced operations on July 10, 2009 when we completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and assumption of certain liabilities of Old GM through a 363 Sale under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Immediately prior to this offering, our common stock was held of record by four stockholders: the United States Department of the Treasury, Canada GEN Investment Corporation (Canada Holdings), the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust (New VEBA) and Motors Liquidation Company. As a result of the 363 Sale and other recent restructuring and cost savings initiatives, we have improved our financial position and level of operational flexibility as compared to Old GM when it operated the business. We commenced operations upon completion of the 363 Sale with a total amount of debt and other liabilities at July 10, 2009 that was $92.7 billion less than Old GM’s total amount of debt and other liabilities at July 9, 2009. We reached a competitive labor agreement with our unions, began restructuring our dealer network and reduced and refocused our brand strategy in the U.S. to our four brands.

Our results for the three months ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2010 included net income of $1.2 billion, $1.6 billion and $2.2 billion. For the period from July 10, 2009 to December 31, 2009, we had a net loss of $3.8 billion, which included a settlement loss of $2.6 billion related to the 2009 revised UAW settlement agreement. We reported revenue of $31.5 billion, $33.2 billion and $34.1 billion in the three months ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2010, representing 40.3%, 43.9% and 27.2% year-over-year increases as compared to Old GM’s revenue for the three months ended March 31 and June 30, 2009 and GM and Old GM’s combined revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2009. For the period from July 10, 2009 to December 31, 2009, our revenue was $57.5 billion.

Our Industry and Market Opportunity

The global automotive industry sold 66 million new vehicles in 2009. Vehicle sales are widely distributed across the world in developed and emerging markets. We believe that total vehicle sales in emerging markets (Asia, excluding Japan, South America and Eastern Europe) will equal or exceed those in mature markets (North America, Western Europe and Japan) starting in 2010, as rising income levels drive secular growth. We believe that this expected growth in emerging markets, combined with an estimated recovery in mature markets, creates a potential growth opportunity for the global automotive industry.

Designing, manufacturing and selling vehicles is capital intensive. It requires substantial investments in manufacturing, machinery, research and development, product design, engineering, technology and marketing in order to meet both consumer preferences and regulatory requirements. Large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are able to benefit from economies of scale by leveraging their investments and activities on a global basis across brands and nameplates (commonly referred to as models). The automotive industry is also cyclical and tends to track changes in the general economic environment. OEMs that have a diversified revenue base across geographies and products and have access to capital are well positioned to withstand industry downturns and to capitalize on industry growth. The largest automotive OEMs are GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Ford, all of which operate on a global basis and produce cars and trucks across a broad range of vehicle segments.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the following strengths provide us with a foundation for profitability, growth and execution on our strategic vision to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles:

 

   

Global presence, scale and dealer network. We are currently the world’s second largest automaker based on vehicle sales volume and, as a result of our relative market positions in GMNA and GMIO,

 

 

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are positioned to benefit from future growth resulting from economic recovery in developed markets and continued secular growth in emerging markets. In 2009, we and Old GM sold 7.5 million vehicles in over 120 countries and generated $104.6 billion in revenue, although our and Old GM’s combined worldwide market share of 11.6% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009 had declined from Old GM’s worldwide market share of 13.2% based on vehicle sales volume in 2007. We operate a global distribution network with over 21,000 independent dealers. Our presence and scale enable us to deploy our purchasing, research and development, design, engineering, marketing and distribution resources and capabilities globally across our vehicle production base.

 

   

Market share in emerging markets, such as China and Brazil. Across the BRIC markets, we and Old GM had the industry-leading market share of 12.7% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009, which has grown from a 9.8% share in 2004. In China, the fastest growing global market by volume of vehicles sold, through our joint ventures we and Old GM had the number one market position with a share of 13.3% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009. We and Old GM also held the third largest market share in Brazil at 19.0% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009.

 

   

Portfolio of high-quality vehicles. Our global portfolio includes vehicles in most key segments, with 31 nameplates in the U.S. and another 140 nameplates internationally. Our and Old GM’s long-term investment over the last decade in our product portfolio has resulted in successful recent vehicle launches such as the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX. Sales of these vehicles have had higher transaction prices than the products they replaced and have increased vehicle segment market shares. These vehicles also have had higher residual values. The design, quality, reliability and safety of our vehicles has been recognized worldwide by a number of third parties, including J.D. Power, Consumers Digest, the European Car of the Year Organizing Committee, the Chinese Automotive Media Association and Brazil’s AutoEsporte Magazine.

 

   

Commitment to new technologies. We have invested in a diverse set of new technologies designed to meet customer needs around the world. Our research and product development efforts in the areas of energy efficiency and energy diversity have been focused on advanced and alternative propulsion and fuel efficiency. Our investment in telematics and infotainment technology enables us to provide through OnStar a service offering that creates a connection to the customer and a platform for future infotainment initiatives.

 

   

Competitive cost structure in GMNA. We have substantially completed the restructuring of our North American operations, which has reduced our cost base and improved our capacity utilization and product line profitability. We accomplished this through brand rationalization, manufacturing footprint reduction, ongoing dealer network optimization, salaried and hourly headcount reductions, labor agreement restructuring and transfer of hourly retiree healthcare obligations to the New VEBA. The reduced costs resulting from these actions, along with our improved price realization and lower incentives, have reduced our profitability breakeven point in North America. For the three months ended September 30, 2010 and based on GMNA’s current market share, GMNA’s earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) (EBIT is not an operating measure under U.S. GAAP—refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Reconciliation of Segment Results” for additional discussion) would have achieved breakeven at an implied annual U.S. industry sales of approximately 10.5 to 11.0 million vehicles.

 

   

Competitive global cost structure. Global architectures (that is, vehicle characteristics and dimensions supporting common sets of major vehicle underbody components and subsystems) allow us to streamline our product development and manufacturing processes, which has resulted in reduced material and engineering costs. This allows us to design and engineer our vehicles globally while

 

 

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balancing cost efficient production locations and proximity to the end customer. Approximately 43% of our vehicles are manufactured in regions we believe to be low-cost locations, such as China, Mexico, Eastern Europe, India and Russia, with all-in active labor costs of less than $15 per hour.

 

   

Strong balance sheet and liquidity. As of September 30, 2010, we had available liquidity (cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities) of $33.5 billion and outstanding debt of $8.6 billion. On October 26, 2010, we repaid $2.8 billion of our then outstanding debt (together with accreted interest thereon) utilizing available liquidity and entered into a new five year $5.0 billion secured revolving credit facility. In addition, we have no significant contractual debt maturities until 2015. Although our U.S. and non-U.S. pension plans were underfunded by $17.1 billion and $10.3 billion on a U.S. GAAP basis at December 31, 2009, a hypothetical valuation as of September 30, 2010 projects total contributions of $0.6 billion to U.S. pension plans through 2013. (Refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations— Contractual Obligations and Other Long-Term Liabilities.”) We believe that our combination of cash and cash equivalents, cash flow from operations and availability under our new secured revolving credit facility should provide sufficient cash to fund our new product and technology development efforts, European restructuring program, growth initiatives and further cost-reduction initiatives in the medium term.

 

   

Strong leadership team with focused direction. Our new executive management team, which includes our new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer from outside the automotive industry as well as many senior officers who have been promoted to new roles from within the organization, combines years of experience at GM and new perspectives on growth, innovation and strategy deployment, and operates in a streamlined organizational structure. This allows for more direct lines of communication, quicker decision-making and direct responsibility for individuals in various areas of our business. The members of our Board of Directors, a majority of whom were not directors of Old GM, are directly involved in strategy formation and review.

Our Strategy

Our vision is to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles. The primary elements of our strategy to achieve this vision are to:

 

   

Deliver a product portfolio of the world’s best vehicles, allowing us to maximize sales under any market conditions;

 

   

Sell our vehicles globally by targeting developed markets, which are projected to have increases in vehicle demand as the global economy recovers, and further strengthening our position in high growth emerging markets;

 

   

Improve revenue realization and maintain a competitive cost structure to allow us to remain profitable at lower industry volumes and across the lifecycle of our product portfolio; and

 

   

Maintain a strong balance sheet by reducing financial leverage given the high operating leverage of our business model.

 

 

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Our management team is focused on hiring new and promoting current talented employees who can bring new perspectives to our business in order to execute on our strategy as follows:

Deliver quality products. We intend to maintain a broad portfolio of vehicles so that we are positioned to meet global consumer preferences. We plan to do this in several ways.

 

   

Concentrate our design, engineering and marketing resources on fewer brands and architectures. We plan to increase the volume of vehicles produced from common global architectures to more than 50% of our total volumes in 2014 from less than 17% today. We expect that this initiative will result in greater investment per architecture and brand and will increase our product development and manufacturing flexibility, allowing us to maintain a steady schedule of important new product launches in the future. We believe our four-brand strategy in the U.S. will continue to enable us to allocate higher marketing expenditures per brand.

 

   

Develop products across vehicle segments in our global markets. We plan to develop vehicles in each of the key segments of the global markets in which we compete. For example, in September 2010 we introduced the Chevrolet Cruze in the U.S. small car segment, an important and growing segment where we have historically been under-represented.

 

   

Continued investment in a portfolio of technologies. We will continue to invest in technologies that support energy diversity and energy efficiency as well as in safety, telematics and infotainment technology. We are committed to advanced propulsion technologies and intend to offer a portfolio of fuel efficient alternatives that use energy sources such as petroleum, bio-fuels, hydrogen and electricity, including the new Chevrolet Volt. Additionally, we are expanding our telematics and infotainment offerings and, as a result of our OnStar service and our partnerships with companies such as Google, are in a position to deliver safety, security, navigation and connectivity systems and features.

Sell our vehicles globally. We will continue to compete in the largest and fastest growing markets globally.

 

   

Broaden GMNA product portfolio. We plan to launch 19 new vehicles in GMNA across our four brands between 2010 and 2012, primarily in the growing car and crossover segments, where, in some cases, we are under-represented, and an additional 28 new vehicles between 2013 and 2014.

 

   

Increase sales in GMIO, particularly China and Brazil. We plan to continue to execute our growth strategies in countries where we already hold strong positions, such as China and Brazil, and to improve share in other important markets, including South Korea, South Africa, Russia, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. We aim to launch 84 new vehicles throughout GMIO through 2012. We plan to enhance and strengthen our GMIO product portfolio through three strategies: leveraging our global architectures, pursuing local and regional solutions to meet specific market requirements and expanding our joint venture partner collaboration opportunities.

 

   

Refresh GME’s vehicle portfolio. To improve our product quality and product perception in Europe, by the start of 2012, we plan to have 80% of our Opel/Vauxhall carlines volume refreshed such that the model stylings are less than three years old. We have three product launches scheduled in 2010 and another four product launches scheduled in 2011.

 

   

Ensure competitive financing is available to our dealers and customers. Through our long-standing arrangements with Ally Financial Inc., formerly GMAC, Inc. (Ally Financial), and a variety of other worldwide, regional and local lenders, we provide our customers and dealers with access to financing

 

 

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alternatives. We plan to further expand the range of financing options available to our customers and dealers to help grow our vehicle sales. In particular, on October 1, 2010, we acquired AmeriCredit Corp. (AmeriCredit), which we subsequently renamed General Motors Financial Company, Inc. (GM Financial) and which we expect will enable us to offer increased availability of leasing and sub-prime financing for our customers throughout economic cycles.

Reduce breakeven levels through improved revenue realization and a competitive cost structure. In developed markets, we are improving our cost structure to become profitable at lower industry volumes.

 

   

Capitalize on cost structure improvement and maintain reduced incentive levels in GMNA. We plan to sustain the cost reduction and operating flexibility progress we have made as a result of our North American restructuring. We aim to increase our vehicle profitability by maintaining competitive incentive levels with our strengthened product portfolio and by actively managing our production levels through monitoring of our dealer inventory levels.

 

   

Execute on our Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan. The objective of our Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan along with the refreshed product portfolio pipeline is to restore the profitability of the GME business. The restructuring plan includes an agreement to reduce our European manufacturing capacity by 20% and reduce labor costs by $323 million per year.

 

   

Enhance manufacturing flexibility. We primarily produce vehicles in locations where we sell them and we have significant manufacturing capacity in medium- and low-cost countries. We intend to maximize capacity utilization across our production footprint to meet demand without requiring significant additional capital investment.

Maintain a strong balance sheet. Given our business’s high operating leverage and the cyclical nature of our industry, we intend to minimize our financial leverage. We plan to use excess cash to repay debt and to make discretionary contributions to our U.S. pension plan. Based on this planned reduction in financial leverage and the anticipated benefits resulting from our operating strategy described above, we will aim to attain an investment grade credit rating over the long term.

Risks Affecting Us

Investing in our securities involves substantial risk, and our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider all of the information set forth in this prospectus and, in particular, the information under the heading “Risk Factors,” prior to making an investment in our securities.

UST Ownership of our Common Stock

Immediately following this offering, the UST will own approximately 43.3% of our outstanding shares of common stock (40.6% if the underwriters in the offering of common stock exercise their over-allotment option in full). As a result of this stock ownership interest, the UST has the ability to exert control, through its power to vote for the election of our directors, over various matters. Although we believe that the UST has not exerted control to influence our business and operations since the July 10, 2009 closing of the 363 Sale, to the extent the UST elects to exert such control in the future, its interests (as a government entity) may differ from those of our other stockholders. In particular, the UST may have a greater interest in promoting U.S. economic growth and jobs than our other stockholders. For example, while we have repaid in full our indebtedness under our credit agreement with the UST that we entered into on the closing of the 363 Sale, a continuing covenant requires that we use our commercially reasonable best efforts to ensure, subject to exceptions, that our manufacturing volume in the United States is consistent with specified benchmarks.

 

 

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In addition, due to the UST’s ownership interest in the Company, we are subject to executive compensation limitations under various statutes and regulations. Various executive compensation covenants in our credit agreement with the UST also continue to apply to us. These statutes, regulations and covenants restrict the compensation that we can provide to our top executives and prohibit certain types of compensation or benefits for any employees. Despite these compensation limitations, we have been able to recruit strong people to join our senior leadership team from outside our Company, including our new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and we have been able to retain other strong members of our senior leadership team that have many years of experience at GM.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 300 Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan 48265-3000, and our telephone number is (313) 556-5000. Our website is www.gm.com. Our website and the information included in, or linked to on, our website are not part of this prospectus. We have included our website address in this prospectus solely as a textual reference.

Recent Developments

Capital Structure Actions

We have taken recent actions, and expect to take additional actions after the completion of the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering, to reduce our financial leverage. We implemented the following capital structure actions in October 2010:

 

   

Repayment in full of the $2.8 billion outstanding amount (including accreted interest thereon) of the notes (the VEBA Notes) issued under our secured note agreement with the New VEBA (as amended and restated, the VEBA Note Agreement) and that accreted interest at an implied 9% annual rate. We will record a $0.2 billion non-cash gain in the three months ending December 31, 2010 related to this early extinguishment of debt.

 

   

Entry into a new five year, $5.0 billion secured revolving credit facility. While we do not believe the proceeds of the secured revolving credit facility are required to fund operating activities, the facility is expected to provide additional liquidity and financing flexibility.

We expect to implement the following additional capital structure actions after the completion of the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering:

 

   

Purchase of 83.9 million shares of our Series A Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (Series A Preferred Stock), which accrue cumulative dividends at a 9% annual rate, from the UST for a purchase price equal to 102% of their $2.1 billion aggregate liquidation amount pursuant to an agreement that we entered into with the UST in October 2010. We expect to record a $0.7 billion charge to Net income attributable to common stockholders for the difference between the purchase price and the carrying amount of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock.

 

   

Contribution of $4.0 billion in cash and $2.0 billion of our common stock to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans. The common stock contribution is contingent on Department of Labor approval, which we expect to receive in the near-term. Based on the number of shares determined using an assumed public offering price per share of our common stock in the common stock offering of $32.50, the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, the anticipated common stock contribution would consist of 61.5 million shares of our common stock. Although the $2.0 billion common stock contribution would be valued as a plan asset for pension funding purposes at the time of

 

 

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contribution, we would not reflect the contributed stock as plan assets for accounting purposes until the shares become freely tradable, which we expect would be at some later date. While we currently expect to make the cash and common stock pension plan contributions, we are not obligated to do so and cannot assure you that those actions will occur.

Projected Fourth Quarter Results

With respect to the projected fourth quarter results for 2010, our independent registered public accounting firm has not compiled, examined, or performed any procedures with respect to this information, nor have they expressed any opinion or any other form of assurance on such information or its achievability, and assume no responsibility for, and disclaim any association with, it.

We expect to generate positive EBIT in the fourth quarter of 2010, albeit at a significantly lower level than that of each of the first three quarters, due to the fourth quarter having a different production mix, new vehicles launch costs (in particular the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt) and higher engineering expenses for future products.

As the fourth quarter of 2010 is still in progress, any forecast of our operating results is inherently speculative, is subject to substantial uncertainty, and our actual results may differ materially from management’s views. Refer to the section of the prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” for a discussion of risks that could affect our future operating results. Our views for the fourth quarter rely in large part upon assumptions and analyses we have developed.

As a result of the foregoing considerations and the other limitations of non-GAAP measures described elsewhere in this prospectus, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forecasted financial information. There are material limitations inherent in stating our views of our results for future periods. Refer to the sections of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors,” “Forward-Looking Statements,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Summary Historical Consolidated Financial Data,” “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data” and our audited consolidated financial statements and our unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

 

 

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THE OFFERING

 

Common stock offered by the selling stockholders

365,000,000 shares

 

Common stock to be outstanding immediately after this offering

1,500,000,000 shares

 

Voting rights

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held.

 

Common stock listing

Our common stock has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “GM”. The Toronto Stock Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of our common stock under the symbol “GMM”, subject to our fulfilling all of the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

 

Use of proceeds

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of our common stock by the selling stockholders in this offering.

 

  We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the concurrent offering of our Series B preferred stock, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, will be approximately $3.9 billion (or approximately $4.4 billion if the underwriters in that offering exercise their over-allotment option in full). We intend to use the net proceeds from the concurrent offering of our Series B preferred stock, together with cash on hand, to purchase shares of our Series A Preferred Stock in accordance with our agreement with the UST and to make a voluntary contribution to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans.

 

Underwriters’ option

The selling stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 54,750,000 additional shares of our common stock to cover over-allotments at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount.

 

Dividend policy

We have no current plans to pay dividends on our common stock. Our payment of dividends on our common stock in the future will be determined by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend on business conditions, our financial condition, earnings, liquidity and capital requirements, the covenants in our new secured revolving credit facility, and other factors. So long as any share of our Series A Preferred Stock or our Series B preferred stock remains outstanding, no dividend or distribution may be declared or paid on our common stock unless all accrued and unpaid dividends have been paid on our Series A Preferred Stock and our Series B preferred stock, subject to exceptions such as dividends on our common stock payable solely in shares of our common stock.

 

Transfer Restrictions

Our certificate of incorporation contains provisions restricting transfers of various securities of the Company (including shares of our common

 

 

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stock and warrants to purchase our common stock, and shares of our Series B preferred stock issued in the Series B preferred stock offering) if the effect would be to (1) generally increase the direct or indirect stock ownership by any person or group from less than 4.9% of the value of all such securities of the Company to 4.9% or more or (2) generally increase the direct or indirect stock ownership of a person or group having or deemed to have a stock ownership of 4.9% or more of the value of all such securities of the Company. These restrictions are intended to protect against a limitation on our ability to use net operating loss carryovers and other tax benefits. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Capital Stock—Certain Provisions of Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws—Transfer Restrictions” for a more detailed description of these restrictions.

 

Concurrent Series B preferred stock offering

Concurrently with this offering of common stock, we are making a public offering of 80,000,000 shares of our Series B preferred stock, and we have granted the underwriters of that offering a 30-day option to purchase up to 12,000,000 additional shares of Series B preferred stock to cover over-allotments. Such shares of Series B preferred stock will be convertible into an aggregate of up to             shares of our common stock (up to             shares of our common stock if the underwriters in that offering exercise their over-allotment option in full), in each case subject to anti-dilution, make-whole and other adjustments.

 

  We cannot assure you that the offering of Series B preferred stock will be completed or, if completed, on what terms it will be completed. The closing of this offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the Series B preferred stock offering, but the closing of our offering of Series B preferred stock is conditioned upon the closing of this offering. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Concurrent Offering of Series B Preferred Stock” for a summary of the terms of our Series B preferred stock and a further description of the concurrent offering.

 

Conflicts of Interest

Because Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. is an affiliate of the UST under Rule 2720 of the Conduct Rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), a “conflict of interest” is deemed to exist under Rule 2720. Accordingly, this offering will be made in compliance with the applicable provisions of Rule 2720 of the FINRA Conduct Rules. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting—Conflicts of Interest.”

 

Risk factors

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 16 of this prospectus for a discussion of risks you should carefully consider before deciding whether to invest in our common stock.

 

 

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The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding after this offering is based on 1,500,000,000 shares of our common stock outstanding as of November 2, 2010 and excludes:

 

   

136,363,635 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants held by MLC as of November 2, 2010 at an exercise price of $10.00 per share;

 

   

136,363,635 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants held by MLC as of November 2, 2010 at an exercise price of $18.33 per share; and

 

   

45,454,545 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants held by the New VEBA as of November 2, 2010 at an exercise price of $42.31 per share.

The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding after this offering also excludes up to approximately 17 million shares issuable upon settlement of restricted stock units awarded pursuant to the General Motors Company 2009 Long-Term Incentive Plan and salary stock units awarded pursuant to the General Motors Company Salary Stock Plan as of September 30, 2010. Upon completion of this offering, substantially all of these awards will be reclassified from cash-based awards recorded as liabilities to equity-based awards and, consequently, these awards will be considered in the determination of basic and diluted earnings per share. Because the salary stock unit awards vest immediately, upon completion of this offering, our basic and diluted earnings per share calculation will include approximately 2 million additional shares underlying the salary stock unit awards. Similarly, we have approximately 2 million restricted stock units outstanding to retirement eligible participants which are fully vested and accordingly, upon completion of this offering, will be included in our basic and diluted earnings per share calculation. In addition, we have approximately 13 million restricted stock units outstanding which will not be included in basic earnings per share until they are vested. The vesting period is over a 3 year period that began on their initial grant date of March 15, 2010. Assuming a common stock price of $32.50 per share, the midpoint of the range for the common stock offering set forth on the cover of this prospectus, under the application of the treasury stock method, these unvested restricted stock units will result in the inclusion of approximately 2 million additional shares in the denominator of our diluted earnings per share computation immediately after this offering.

The number of outstanding shares also excludes any additional shares of our common stock we are obligated to issue to MLC (Adjustment Shares) in the event that allowed general unsecured claims against MLC, as estimated by the Bankruptcy Court, exceed $35.0 billion. The number of Adjustment Shares to be issued is calculated based on the extent to which estimated general unsecured claims exceed $35.0 billion with the maximum number of Adjustment Shares (30,000,000 shares, subject to adjustment for stock dividends, stock splits and other transactions) issued if estimated general unsecured claims total $42.0 billion or more. We currently believe that it is probable that general unsecured claims allowed against MLC will ultimately exceed $35.0 billion by at least $2.0 billion. In the circumstance where estimated general unsecured claims equal $37.0 billion, we would be required to issue 8.6 million Adjustment Shares to MLC.

The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding after this offering also excludes up to              shares of our common stock (up to              shares if the underwriters in our offering of Series B preferred stock exercise their over-allotment option in full), in each case subject to anti-dilution, make-whole and other adjustments, that would be issuable upon conversion of shares of Series B preferred stock issued in our concurrent offering of Series B preferred stock.

The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding after this offering also excludes the $2.0 billion of common stock that we expect to contribute to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans after the completion of this offering and our concurrent offering of Series B preferred stock. The common stock contribution is contingent on Department of Labor approval, which we expect to receive in the near-term. Based

 

 

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on the number of shares determined using an assumed public offering price per share of our common stock in the common stock offering of $32.50, the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, this anticipated contribution would consist of 61.5 million shares of our common stock. Although we reserve the right to modify the amount or timing of the contribution, or to not make the contribution at all, we currently expect to complete the contribution to the pension plans in the near-term.

All applicable share, per share and related information in this prospectus for periods on or subsequent to July 10, 2009 has been adjusted retroactively for the three-for-one stock split on shares of our common stock effected on November 1, 2010.

 

 

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SUMMARY FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA

The following table summarizes the consolidated historical financial data of General Motors Company (Successor) and Old GM (Predecessor) for the periods presented. We derived the consolidated historical financial data for the periods July 10, 2009 through December 31, 2009 (Successor) and January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 (Predecessor) and the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007 (Predecessor) and as of December 31, 2009 (Successor) and December 31, 2008 (Predecessor) from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We derived the consolidated historical financial statement data for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 (Predecessor) and as of December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005 (Predecessor) from our audited consolidated financial statements for such years, which are not included in this prospectus. We derived the consolidated historical financial data for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and as of September 30, 2010 from the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The data set forth in the following table should be read together with the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have prepared the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements and, in our opinion, have included all adjustments necessary to present fairly in all material respects our financial position and results of operations. Historical results for any prior period are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in any future period, and results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for a full fiscal year.

 

 

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Summary Financial Data

(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

 

    Successor           Predecessor  
    Nine  Months
Ended
September 30,
2010(a)
    July 10, 2009
Through
December  31,
2009(a)(b)
          January  1,
2009
Through
July 9,  2009
    Years Ended December 31,  
          2008     2007     2006     2005  
    Unaudited                                            

Income Statement Data:

                 

Total net sales and revenue(c)

  $ 98,710      $ 57,474          $ 47,115      $ 148,979      $ 179,984      $ 204,467      $ 192,143   
                                                           

Reorganization gains, net(d)

  $      $          $ 128,155      $      $      $      $   
                                                           

Income (loss) from continuing
operations(d)(e)

  $ 5,031      $ (3,786       $ 109,003      $ (31,051   $ (42,685   $ (2,155   $ (10,625

Income from discontinued operations, net of tax(f)

                                    256        445        313   

Gain on sale of discontinued operations, net of tax(f)

                                    4,293                 

Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle(g)

                                                  (109
                                                           

Net income (loss)(d)

    5,031        (3,786         109,003        (31,051     (38,136     (1,710     (10,421

Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests

    265        511            (115     (108     406        324        48   

Less: Cumulative dividends on preferred stock

    608        131                                          
                                                           

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders(d)

  $ 4,158      $ (4,428       $ 109,118      $ (30,943   $ (38,542   $ (2,034   $ (10,469
                                                           

GM $0.01 par value common stock and Old GM $1-2/3 par value common stock

                 

Basic earnings (loss) per share:

                 

Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to common stockholders before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $ 2.77      $ (3.58       $ 178.63      $ (53.47   $ (76.16   $ (4.39   $ (18.87

Income from discontinued operations attributable to common stockholders(f)

                                    8.04        0.79        0.55   

Loss from cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle attributable to common stockholders(g)

                                                  (0.19
                                                           

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

  $ 2.77      $ (3.58       $ 178.63      $ (53.47   $ (68.12   $ (3.60   $ (18.51
                                                           

Diluted earnings (loss) per share:

                 

Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to common stockholders before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $ 2.62      $ (3.58       $ 178.55      $ (53.47   $ (76.16   $ (4.39   $ (18.87

Income from discontinued operations attributable to common stockholders(f)

                                    8.04        0.79        0.55   

Loss from cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle attributable to common stockholders(g)

                                                  (0.19
                                                           

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

  $ 2.62      $ (3.58       $ 178.55      $ (53.47   $ (68.12   $ (3.60   $ (18.51
                                                           

Cash dividends per common share

  $      $          $      $ 0.50      $ 1.00      $ 1.00      $ 2.00   
 

Balance Sheet Data (as of period end):

                 

Total assets(c)(e)(h)

  $ 137,238      $ 136,295            $ 91,039      $ 148,846      $ 185,995      $ 473,938   

Notes and loans payable(c)(i)

  $ 8,566      $ 15,783            $ 45,938      $ 43,578      $ 47,476      $ 286,943   

Series A Preferred Stock

  $ 6,998      $ 6,998            $      $      $      $   

Equity (deficit)(e)(g)(j)(k)

  $ 23,718      $ 21,957            $ (85,076   $ (35,152   $ (4,076   $ 15,931   

 

 

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(a) All applicable Successor share, per share and related information has been adjusted retroactively for the three-for-one stock split effected on November 1, 2010.
(b) At July 10, 2009 we applied fresh-start reporting following the guidance in ASC 852, “Reorganizations.” The audited consolidated financial statements for the periods ended on or before July 9, 2009 do not include the effect of any changes in the fair value of assets or liabilities as a result of the application of fresh-start reporting. Therefore, our financial information at and for any period after July 10, 2009 is not comparable to Old GM’s financial information. We have not included pro forma financial information giving effect to the Chapter 11 Proceedings and the 363 Sale because the latest filed balance sheet, as well as the December 31, 2009 audited financial statements, include the effects of the 363 Sale. As such, we believe that further information would not be material to investors.
(c) In November 2006 Old GM sold a 51% controlling ownership interest in Ally Financial, resulting in a significant decrease in total consolidated net sales and revenue, assets and notes and loans payable.
(d) In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Old GM recorded Reorganization gains, net of $128.2 billion directly associated with the Chapter 11 Proceedings, the 363 Sale and the application of fresh-start reporting. Refer to Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements for additional detail.
(e) In September 2007 Old GM recorded full valuation allowances of $39.0 billion against net deferred tax assets in Canada, Germany and the United States.
(f) In August 2007 Old GM completed the sale of the commercial and military operations of its Allison business. The results of operations, cash flows and the 2007 gain on sale of Allison have been reported as discontinued operations for all periods presented.
(g) In December 2005 Old GM recorded an asset retirement obligation of $181 million, which was $109 million net of related income tax effects.
(h) In December 2006 Old GM recorded the funded status of its benefit plans on the consolidated balance sheet with an offsetting adjustment to Accumulated other comprehensive loss of $16.9 billion in accordance with the adoption of new provisions of ASC 715, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits” (ASC 715).
(i) In December 2008 Old GM requested and received financial assistance from the U.S. government and entered into a loan and security agreement with the UST (as amended, the UST Loan Agreement), pursuant to which the UST agreed to provide a $13.4 billion loan facility (UST Loan Facility). In December 2008 Old GM borrowed $4.0 billion under the UST Loan Facility.
(j) In January 2007 Old GM recorded a decrease to Retained earnings of $425 million and a decrease of $1.2 billion to Accumulated other comprehensive loss in accordance with the early adoption of the measurement provisions of ASC 715.
(k) In January 2007 Old GM recorded an increase to Retained earnings of $137 million with a corresponding decrease to its liability for uncertain tax positions in accordance with ASC 740-10, “Income Taxes.”

 

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves risk. You should carefully consider each of the following risks and all of the other information contained in this prospectus before deciding to invest in our securities. Any of the following risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. In such case, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your original investment. While we describe each risk separately, some of the risks are interrelated and certain risks could trigger the applicability of other risks described below.

Risks Relating to Our Business

Our business is highly dependent on sales volume. Global vehicle sales have declined significantly from their peak levels, and there is no assurance that the global automobile market will recover in the near future or that it will not suffer a significant further downturn.

Our business and financial results are highly sensitive to sales volume, as demonstrated by the effect of sharp declines in vehicle sales on our business in the U.S. since 2007 and globally since 2008. Vehicle sales in the U.S. have fallen significantly on an annualized basis since their peak in 2007, and sales globally have shown steep declines on an annualized basis since their peak in January 2008. Many of the economic and market conditions that drove the drop in vehicle sales, including declines in real estate and equity values, increases in unemployment, tightened credit markets, depressed consumer confidence and weak housing markets, continue to affect sales. In addition, recent concerns over levels of sovereign indebtedness have contributed to a renewed tightening of credit markets in some of the markets in which we do business. Although vehicle sales began to recover in certain of our markets in the three months ended December 31, 2009 and the recovery has continued through September 30, 2010, the recovery in vehicle sales in certain of our markets, including North America, has been proceeding slowly and there is no assurance that this recovery in vehicle sales will continue or spread across all our markets. Further, sales volumes may again decline severely or take longer to recover than we expect, and if they do, our results of operations and financial condition will be materially adversely affected.

Our ability to change public perception of our company and products is essential to our ability to attract a sufficient number of consumers to consider our vehicles, particularly our new products, which is critical to our ability to achieve long-term profitability.

Our ability to achieve long-term profitability depends on our ability to entice consumers to consider our products when purchasing a new vehicle. The automotive industry, particularly in the U.S., is very competitive, and our competitors have been very successful in persuading customers that previously purchased our products to purchase their vehicles instead as is reflected by our loss of market share over the past three years. We believe that this is due, in part, to a negative public perception of our products in relation to those of some of our competitors. Changing this perception, including with respect to the fuel efficiency of our products, as well as the perception of our company in light of Old GM’s bankruptcy and our status as a recipient of aid under TARP, will be critical to our long-term profitability. If we are unable to change public perception of our company and products, especially our new products, including cars and crossovers, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

The pace of introduction and market acceptance of new vehicles is important to our success, and the frequency of new vehicle introductions and vehicle improvements may be materially adversely affected by reductions in capital expenditures.

Our competitors have introduced new and improved vehicle models designed to meet consumer expectations and will continue to do so. Our profit margins, sales volumes, and market shares may decrease if we are unable to produce models that compare favorably to these competing models. If we are unable to produce new and improved vehicle models on a basis competitive with the models introduced by our competitors, including models of smaller vehicles, demand for our vehicles may be materially adversely affected. Further, the

 

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pace of our development and introduction of new and improved vehicles depends on our ability to implement successfully improved technological innovations in design, engineering, and manufacturing, which requires extensive capital investment. Any capital expenditure cuts in these areas that we may determine to implement in the future to reduce costs and conserve cash could reduce our ability to develop and implement improved technological innovations, which may materially reduce demand for our vehicles.

Our future competitiveness and ability to achieve long-term profitability depends on our ability to control our costs, which requires us to successfully implement restructuring initiatives throughout our automotive operations.

We are continuing to implement a number of cost reduction and productivity improvement initiatives in our automotive operations, including labor modifications and substantial restructuring initiatives for our European operations. Our future competitiveness depends upon our continued success in implementing these restructuring initiatives throughout our automotive operations, especially in North America and Europe. In addition, while some of the elements of cost reduction are within our control, others such as interest rates or return on investments, which influence our expense for pensions, depend more on external factors, and there can be no assurance that such external factors will not materially adversely affect our ability to reduce our structural costs. Reducing costs may prove difficult due to our focus on increasing advertising and our belief that engineering expenses necessary to improve the performance, safety, and customer satisfaction of our vehicles are likely to increase.

Failure of our suppliers, due to difficult economic conditions affecting our industry, to provide us with the systems, components, and parts that we need to manufacture our automotive products and operate our business could result in a disruption in our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business.

We rely on many suppliers to provide us with the systems, components, and parts that we need to manufacture our automotive products and operate our business. In recent years, a number of these suppliers have experienced severe financial difficulties and solvency problems, and some have sought relief under the Bankruptcy Code or similar reorganization laws. This trend intensified in 2009 due to the combination of general economic weakness, sharply declining vehicle sales, and tightened credit availability that has affected the automotive industry generally. Suppliers may encounter difficulties in obtaining credit or may receive an opinion from their independent public accountants regarding their financial statements that includes a statement expressing substantial doubt about their ability to continue as a going concern, which could trigger defaults under their financings or other agreements or impede their ability to raise new funds.

When comparable situations have occurred in the past, suppliers have attempted to increase their prices, pass through increased costs, alter payment terms, or seek other relief. In instances where suppliers have not been able to generate sufficient additional revenues or obtain the additional financing they need to continue their operations, either through private sources or government funding, which may not be available, some have been forced to reduce their output, shut down their operations, or file for bankruptcy protection. Such actions would likely increase our costs, create challenges to meeting our quality objectives, and in some cases make it difficult for us to continue production of certain vehicles. To the extent we take steps in such cases to help key suppliers remain in business, our liquidity would be adversely affected. It may also be difficult to find a replacement for certain suppliers without significant delay.

Increase in cost, disruption of supply, or shortage of raw materials could materially harm our business.

We use various raw materials in our business including steel, non-ferrous metals such as aluminum and copper, and precious metals such as platinum and palladium. The prices for these raw materials fluctuate depending on market conditions. In recent years, freight charges and raw material costs increased significantly. Substantial increases in the prices for our raw materials increase our operating costs and could reduce our profitability if we cannot recoup the increased costs through increased vehicle prices. In addition, some of these raw materials, such as corrosion-resistant steel, are only available from a limited number of suppliers. We cannot

 

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guarantee that we will be able to maintain favorable arrangements and relationships with these suppliers. An increase in the cost or a sustained interruption in the supply or shortage of some of these raw materials, which may be caused by a deterioration of our relationships with suppliers or by events such as labor strikes, could negatively affect our net revenues and profitability to a material extent.

We operate in a highly competitive industry that has excess manufacturing capacity and attempts by our competitors to sell more vehicles could have a significant negative effect on our vehicle pricing, market share, and operating results.

The global automotive industry is highly competitive, and overall manufacturing capacity in the industry exceeds demand. Many manufacturers have relatively high fixed labor costs as well as significant limitations on their ability to close facilities and reduce fixed costs. Our competitors may respond to these relatively high fixed costs by attempting to sell more vehicles by adding vehicle enhancements, providing subsidized financing or leasing programs, offering option package discounts or other marketing incentives, or reducing vehicle prices in certain markets. In addition, manufacturers in lower cost countries such as China and India have emerged as competitors in key emerging markets and announced their intention of exporting their products to established markets as a bargain alternative to entry-level automobiles. These actions have had, and are expected to continue to have, a significant negative effect on our vehicle pricing, market share, and operating results, and present a significant risk to our ability to enhance our revenue per vehicle.

Our competitors may be able to benefit from the cost savings offered by industry consolidation or alliances.

Designing, manufacturing and selling vehicles is capital intensive and requires substantial investments in manufacturing, machinery, research and development, product design, engineering, technology and marketing in order to meet both consumer preferences and regulatory requirements. Large OEMs are able to benefit from economies of scale by leveraging their investments and activities on a global basis across brands and nameplates. If our competitors consolidate or enter into other strategic agreements such as alliances, they may be able to take better advantage of these economies of scale. We believe that competitors may be able to benefit from the cost savings offered by consolidation or alliances, which could adversely affect our competitiveness with respect to those competitors. In addition, competitors could use consolidation or alliances as a means of enhancing their competitiveness or liquidity position, which could also materially adversely affect our business.

Our business plan and other obligations require substantial liquidity, and inadequate cash flow could materially adversely affect our financial condition and future business operations.

We will require substantial liquidity to support our business plan and meet other funding requirements. We expect total engineering and capital spending of approximately $12.0 billion in 2010 as we continue to refresh and broaden our product portfolio, increase our sales, and develop advanced technologies, with continued substantial expenditures on engineering and capital spending in subsequent years. In addition, at September 30, 2010 we have debt maturities and capital lease obligations of $4.0 billion through 2014, after giving effect to the repayment in full of the outstanding amount (including accreted interest) of the VEBA Notes of $2.8 billion on October 26, 2010. We plan to make a $6.0 billion voluntary contribution to U.S. pension plans in 2010, consisting of cash of $4.0 billion and $2.0 billion of our common stock. These voluntary contributions are contingent upon completion of the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering. The stock contribution is contingent on approval from the Department of Labor that the stock will qualify as a plan asset for funding purposes. These contributions are expected to satisfy our mandatory funding through 2014. In the event we do not make this voluntary contribution, our potential funding requirements are described in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual Obligations and Other Long-Term Liabilities.” We also expect to spend $785 million to $970 million to fund various escrow deposits or make payments in connection with certain South American income and indirect tax-related administrative and legal proceedings. We also anticipate continued expenditures to implement long-term cost savings and restructuring plans, including our Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan. In addition to the foregoing liquidity needs, we also have minimum liquidity covenants in our new secured revolving credit facility, which require us to

 

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maintain at least $4.0 billion in consolidated global liquidity and at least $2.0 billion in consolidated U.S. liquidity. Refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for a further discussion of these liquidity requirements.

If our liquidity levels approach the minimum liquidity levels necessary to support our normal business operations, we may be forced to raise additional capital on terms that may not be favorable, curtail engineering and capital spending, and reduce research and development and other programs that are important to the future success of our business. A reduction in engineering and capital and research and development spending would negatively affect our ability to meet planned product launches and to refresh our product line-up at the pace contemplated in our business plan. If this were to happen, our future revenue and profitability could be negatively affected.

Although we believe we possess sufficient liquidity to operate our business, our ability to maintain adequate liquidity over the long-term will depend significantly on the volume, mix and quality of our vehicle sales and our ability to minimize operating expenses. Our liquidity needs are sensitive to changes in each of these and other factors.

As part of our business plan, we have reduced compensation for our most highly paid executives and have reduced the number of our management and non-management salaried employees, and these actions may materially adversely affect our ability to hire and retain salaried employees.

As part of the cost reduction initiatives in our business plan, and pursuant to the direction of the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation (the Special Master), the form and timing of the compensation for our most highly paid executives is not competitive with that offered by other major corporations. Furthermore, while we have repaid in full our indebtedness under our secured credit agreement with the UST dated July 10, 2009, as amended (the UST Credit Agreement), the executive compensation and corporate governance provisions of Section 111 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as amended (the EESA), including the Interim Final Rule implementing Section 111 (the Interim Final Rule), will continue to apply to us for the period specified in the EESA and the Interim Final Rule. In addition, certain of the covenants in the UST Credit Agreement will continue to apply to us until the earlier to occur of (i) us ceasing to be a recipient of Exceptional Financial Assistance, as determined pursuant to the Interim Final Rule or any successor or final rule, or (ii) UST ceasing to own any direct or indirect equity interests in us. The effect of Section 111 of EESA, the Interim Final Rule and the covenants is to restrict the compensation that we can provide to our top executives and prohibit certain types of compensation or benefits for any employees. At the same time, we have substantially decreased the number of salaried employees so that the workload is shared among fewer employees and in general the demands on each salaried employee are increased. Companies in similar situations have experienced significant difficulties in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees, particularly in competitive specialties. Given our compensation structure and increasing job demands, there is no assurance that we will continue to be able to hire and retain the employees whose expertise is required to execute our business plan while at the same time developing and producing vehicles that will stimulate demand for our products.

Our plan to reduce the number of our retail channels and brands and to consolidate our dealer network may reduce our total sales volume and our market share and not result in the cost savings we anticipate.

As part of our business plan, we will focus our resources in the U.S. on four brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. We completed the sale of Saab Automobile AB (Saab) in February 2010, and have ceased production of our Pontiac, Saturn and HUMMER brands. We have recently completed the federal arbitration process concerning dealer reinstatement and are on track with our plan to consolidate our dealer network by reducing the total number of our U.S. dealerships from approximately 5,000 as of September 30, 2010 to approximately 4,500 by the end of 2010. We anticipate that this reduction in retail outlets, brands, and dealers will result in cost savings over time, but there is no assurance that we will realize all the savings expected. We also anticipate our sales volume and market share will increase over time, but it is also possible that our market share could decline in the short-term and beyond because of these reductions in brands and dealers which may adversely affect our results of operations.

 

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Our business plan contemplates that we restructure our operations in various European countries, but we may not succeed in doing so, and our failure to restructure these operations in a cost-effective and non-disruptive manner could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our business plan contemplates that we restructure our operations in various European countries, and we are actively working to accomplish this. Restructurings, whether or not ultimately successful, can involve significant expense and disruption to the business as well as labor disruptions, which can adversely affect the business. Moreover, in June 2010 the German federal government notified us of its decision not to provide loan guarantees to Opel/ Vauxhall. We decided to fund the requirements of Opel/Vauxhall internally and withdrew all applications for government loan guarantees from European governments. We anticipate that our decision to restructure our European operations will require us to invest $1.3 billion of additional funds and require significant management attention. In September 2010 we committed up to $4.2 billion through an intercompany facility and equity commitments to fund this restructuring and Opel/Vauxhall’s ongoing cash requirements. We cannot assure you that any of our contemplated restructurings will be completed or achieve the desired results, and if we cannot successfully complete such restructurings, we may choose to, or the directors of the relevant entity may be compelled to, or creditors may force us to, seek relief for our various European operations under applicable local bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, or similar laws, where we may lose control over the outcome of the restructuring process due to the appointment of a local receiver, trustee, or administrator (or similar official) or otherwise and which could result in a liquidation and us losing all or a substantial part of our interest in the business.

Our U.S. defined benefit pension plans are currently underfunded, and our pension funding obligations could increase significantly due to a reduction in funded status as a result of a variety of factors, including weak performance of financial markets, declining interest rates, investment decisions that do not achieve adequate returns, and investment risk inherent in our investment portfolio.

Our future funding obligations for our U.S. defined benefit pension plans qualified with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) depend upon the future performance of assets placed in trusts for these plans, the level of interest rates used to determine funding levels, the level of benefits provided for by the plans and any changes in government laws and regulations. Our employee benefit plans currently hold a significant amount of equity and fixed income securities. A detailed description of the investment funds and strategies is shown in Note 19 to our audited consolidated financial statements, which also describes significant concentrations of risk to the plan investments. Due to Old GM’s contributions to the plans and to the strong performance of these assets during prior periods, the U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans were consistently overfunded from 2005 through 2007, which allowed Old GM to maintain a surplus without making additional contributions to the plans. However, the funded status subsequently deteriorated due to a combination of factors. Adverse equity and credit markets reduced the market value of plan assets, while the present value of pension liabilities rose significantly in response to declines in the discount rate, the effect of separation programs and increases in the level of pension benefits and number of beneficiaries. This increase in beneficiaries was partially due to the inclusion of certain Delphi Corporation (Delphi) hourly employees. As a result of these adverse factors, our U.S. defined benefit pension plans were underfunded on a U.S. GAAP basis by $17.1 billion at December 31, 2009. In addition, at December 31, 2009 our non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans were underfunded on a U.S. GAAP basis by $10.3 billion.

The defined benefit pension plans are accounted for on an actuarial basis, which requires the selection of various assumptions, including an expected rate of return on plan assets and a discount rate. In the U.S., from December 31, 2009 to September 30, 2010, interest rates on high quality corporate bonds decreased. The U.S. hourly defined benefit pension plan was remeasured as of September 30, 2010. We believe that a discount rate calculated for the remaining U.S. defined benefit pension plans at September 30, 2010 would be approximately 90 to 100 basis points lower than the rates used to measure these pension plans at December 31, 2009, the date of the last remeasurement for the U.S. pension plans. As a result, funded status would decrease if the plans were remeasured at September 30, 2010, holding all other factors (e.g., actuarial assumptions and asset returns) constant (see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial

 

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Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Estimates” for an indication of the sensitivity associated with movements in discount rates). It is not possible for us to predict the economic environment at our next scheduled remeasurement as of December 31, 2010. Accordingly, discount rates and plan assets may be significantly different from those at September 30, 2010.

The next U.S. pension funding valuation date based on the requirements of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 is October 1, 2010, and this valuation has not been completed. We plan to make a $6.0 billion voluntary contribution to U.S. pension plans in 2010, consisting of cash of $4.0 billion and $2.0 billion of our common stock. These voluntary contributions are contingent upon completion of the common stock offering and the Series B preferred stock offering. The stock contribution is contingent on approval from the Department of Labor that the stock will qualify as a plan asset for funding purposes. Assuming that this $6.0 billion contribution is made, a hypothetical funding valuation at September 30, 2010, projects a required contribution of $2.4 billion in 2015, and additional contributions may be required thereafter. In the event we do not make this voluntary contribution our potential funding requirements are described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual Obligations and Other Long-Term Liabilities.”

If the total values of the assets held by our pension plans decline and/or the returns on such assets underperform the Company’s return assumptions, our pension expenses would generally increase and could materially adversely affect our financial position. Changes in interest rates that are not offset by contributions, asset returns and/or hedging activities could also increase our obligations under such plans. If local legal authorities increase the minimum funding requirements for our pension plans outside the U.S., we could be required to contribute more funds, which would negatively affect our cash flow.

Due to the complexity and magnitude of our investments, additional risks exist. Examples include significant changes in investment policy, insufficient market capacity to complete a particular investment strategy, and an inherent divergence in objectives between the ability to manage risk in the short term and inability to quickly rebalance illiquid and long-term investments.

If we are unable to meet our required funding obligations for our U.S. pension plans under the terms imposed by regulators at a given point in time, we would need to request a funding waiver from the IRS. If the waiver were granted, we would have the opportunity to make up the missed funding, with interest to the plan. Additional periods of missed funding could further reduce the plans’ funded status, resulting in limitations on plan amendments and lump sum payouts from the plans. Continued deterioration in the plans’ funded status could result in benefit accrual elimination. These actions could materially adversely affect our relations with our employees and their labor unions.

If adequate financing on acceptable terms is not available through Ally Financial or other sources to our customers and dealers, distributors, and suppliers to enable them to continue their business relationships with us, our business could be materially adversely affected.

Our customers and dealers require financing to purchase a significant percentage of our global vehicle sales. Historically, Ally Financial has provided most of the financing for our and Old GM’s dealers and a significant amount of financing for our and Old GM’s customers. Due to recent conditions in credit markets, particularly later in 2008, retail customers and dealers experienced severe difficulty in accessing the credit markets. As a result, the number of vehicles sold or leased declined rapidly in the second half of 2008, with lease contract volume dropping significantly by the end of 2008. This had a significant adverse effect on Old GM vehicle sales overall because many of its competitors had captive financing subsidiaries that were better capitalized than Ally Financial during 2008 and 2009 and thus were able to offer consumers subsidized financing and leasing offers.

Similarly, the reduced availability of Ally Financial wholesale dealer financing (in the second half of 2008 and 2009), the increased cost of such financing, and the limited availability of other sources of dealer financing due to the general weakness of the credit market has caused and may continue to cause dealers to modify their plans to purchase vehicles from us.

 

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Because of recent modifications to our commercial agreements with Ally Financial, Ally Financial no longer is subject to contractual wholesale funding commitments or retail underwriting targets. In addition, Ally Financial’s credit rating has declined in recent years. This may negatively affect its access to funding and therefore its ability to provide adequate financing at competitive rates to our customers and dealers. In addition, a number of other factors could negatively affect Ally Financial’s business and financial condition and therefore its ability to provide adequate financing at competitive rates. These factors include regulations to which Ally Financial is subject as a result of its bank holding company status, disruptions in Ally Financial’s funding sources and access to credit markets, Ally Financial’s significant indebtedness, adverse conditions in the residential mortgage market and housing markets that have adversely affected Ally Financial because of its mortgage business, increases or decreases in interest rates, changes in currency exchange rates and fluctuations in valuations of investment securities held by Ally Financial.

Our failure to successfully develop our own captive financing unit, including through GM Financial, could leave us at a disadvantage to our competitors that have their own captive financing subsidiaries and that therefore may be able to offer consumers and dealers financing and leasing on better terms than our customers and dealers are able to obtain.

Many of our competitors operate and control their own captive financing subsidiaries. If any of our competitors with captive financing subsidiaries are able to continue to offer consumers and dealers financing and leasing on better terms than our customers and dealers are able to obtain, consumers may be more inclined to purchase our competitors’ vehicles and our competitors’ dealers may be better able to stock our competitors’ products.

On October 1, 2010 we completed our acquisition of AmeriCredit, which we subsequently renamed GM Financial and which we expect will enable us to offer increased availability of leasing and sub-prime financing for our customers. Our failure to successfully develop our own captive financing unit, including through the AmeriCredit acquisition, could result in our loss of customers to our competitors with their own captive financing subsidiaries and could adversely affect our dealers’ ability to stock our vehicles if they are not able to obtain necessary financing at competitive rates from other sources.

We intend to rely on our new captive financing unit, GM Financial, to support additional consumer leasing of our vehicles and additional sales of our vehicles to consumers requiring sub-prime vehicle financing, and GM Financial faces a number of business, economic and financial risks that could impair its access to capital and negatively affect its business and operations and its ability to provide leasing and sub-prime financing options to consumers to support additional sales of our vehicles.

GM Financial is subject to various risks that could negatively affect its business, operations and access to capital and therefore its ability to provide leasing and sub-prime financing options at competitive rates to consumers of our vehicles. Because we intend to rely on GM Financial to serve as an additional source of leasing and sub-prime financing options for consumers, any impairment of GM Financial’s ability to provide such leasing or sub-prime financing would negatively affect our efforts to expand our market penetration among consumers who rely on leasing and sub-prime financing options to acquire new vehicles. The factors that could adversely affect GM Financial’s business and operations and impair its ability to provide leasing and sub-prime financing at competitive rates include:

 

   

the availability of borrowings under its credit facility to finance its loan origination activities pending securitization;

 

   

its ability to transfer loan receivables to securitization trusts and sell securities in the asset-backed securities market to generate cash proceeds to repay its credit facilities and purchase additional loan receivables;

 

   

the performance of loans in its portfolio, which could be materially impacted by delinquencies, defaults or prepayments;

 

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its ability to implement its strategy with respect to desired loan origination volume and effective use of credit risk management techniques and servicing strategies;

 

   

its ability to effectively manage risks relating to sub-prime automobile receivables;

 

   

wholesale auction values of repossessed vehicles; and

 

   

fluctuations in interest rates.

The above factors, alone or in combination, could negatively affect GM Financial’s business and operations and its ability to provide leasing and sub-prime financing options to consumers to support additional sales of our vehicles.

The UST (or its designee) will continue to own a substantial interest in us following this offering, and its interests may differ from those of our other stockholders.

Immediately following this offering, the UST will own approximately 43.3% of our outstanding shares of common stock (40.6% if the underwriters in the offering of common stock exercise their over-allotment option in full). As a result of this stock ownership interest, the UST has the ability to exert control, through its power to vote for the election of our directors, over various matters. To the extent the UST elects to exert such control over us, its interests (as a government entity) may differ from those of our other stockholders and it may influence, through its ability to vote for the election of our directors, matters including:

 

   

The selection, tenure and compensation of our management;

 

   

Our business strategy and product offerings;

 

   

Our relationship with our employees, unions and other constituencies; and

 

   

Our financing activities, including the issuance of debt and equity securities.

In particular, the UST may have a greater interest in promoting U.S. economic growth and jobs than other stockholders of the Company. For example, while we have repaid in full our indebtedness under the UST Credit Agreement, a covenant that continues to apply until the earlier of December 31, 2014 or the UST has been paid in full the total amount of all UST invested capital requires that we use our commercially reasonable best efforts to ensure, subject to exceptions, that our manufacturing volume in the United States is consistent with specified benchmarks.

In the future we may also become subject to new and additional laws and government regulations regarding various aspects of our business as a result of participation in the TARP program and the U.S. government’s ownership in our business. These regulations could make it more difficult for us to compete with other companies that are not subject to similar regulations.

Our new secured revolving credit facility as well as the UST Credit Agreement and the Canadian Loan Agreement contain significant covenants that may restrict our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to take actions management believes are important to our long-term strategy.

Our new secured revolving credit facility contains representations, warranties and covenants customary for facilities of its nature, including negative covenants restricting the borrower from incurring liens, consummating mergers or sales of assets and incurring secured indebtedness, and restricting us from making certain payments, in each case, subject to exceptions and limitations. Availability under the secured revolving credit facility is subject to borrowing base limitations. In addition, the secured revolving credit facility contains minimum liquidity covenants, which require the borrower to maintain at least $4.0 billion in consolidated global liquidity and at least $2.0 billion in consolidated U.S. liquidity.

 

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In addition, while we have repaid in full our indebtedness under the UST Credit Agreement, the executive compensation and corporate governance provisions of Section 111 of the EESA, including the Interim Final Rule, will continue to apply to us for the period specified in the EESA and the Interim Final Rule. In addition, certain of the covenants in the UST Credit Agreement will continue to apply to us until the earlier to occur of (i) us ceasing to be a recipient of Exceptional Financial Assistance, as determined pursuant to the Interim Final Rule or any successor or final rule, or (ii) UST ceasing to own any direct or indirect equity interests in us. The effect of Section 111 of EESA, the Interim Final Rule and the covenants is to restrict the compensation that we can provide to our top executives and prohibit certain types of compensation or benefits for any employees. Similarly, covenants in our wholly-owned subsidiary General Motors of Canada Limited’s (GMCL) amended and restated loan agreement (the Canadian Loan Agreement) with Export Development Canada (EDC) limit compensation and benefits for Canadian employees.

In addition, the UST Credit Agreement contains a covenant requiring us to use our commercially reasonable best efforts to ensure that our manufacturing volume conducted in the United States is consistent with at least ninety percent of the projected manufacturing level (projected manufacturing level for this purpose being 1,801,000 units in 2010, 1,934,000 units in 2011, 1,998,000 units in 2012, 2,156,000 units in 2013 and 2,260,000 units in 2014), absent a material adverse change in our business or operating environment which would make the commitment non-economic. In the event that such a material adverse change occurs, the UST Credit Agreement provides that we will use commercially reasonable best efforts to ensure that the volume of United States manufacturing is the minimum variance from the projected manufacturing level that is consistent with good business judgment and the intent of the commitment. This covenant survives our repayment of the UST Loans and remains in effect through December 31, 2014 unless the UST receives total proceeds from debt repayments, dividends, interest, preferred stock redemptions and common stock sales equal to the total dollar amount of all UST invested capital.

UST invested capital totals $49.5 billion, representing the cumulative amount of cash received by Old GM from the UST under the UST Loan Agreement and the DIP Facility, excluding $361 million which the UST loaned to Old GM under the warranty program and which was repaid on July 10, 2009. This balance also does not include amounts advanced under the UST GMAC Loan as the UST exercised its option to convert this loan into GMAC Preferred Membership Interests previously held by Old GM in May 2009. At September 30, 2010, the UST had received cumulative proceeds of $7.4 billion from debt repayments, interest payments and Series A Preferred Stock dividends. The UST’s invested capital less proceeds received totals $42.1 billion.

To the extent we fail to comply with any of the covenants in the UST Credit Agreement that continue to apply to us, the UST is entitled to seek specific performance and the appointment of a court-ordered monitor acceptable to the UST (at our sole expense) to ensure compliance with those covenants. Compliance with the manufacturing volume covenant could require us to increase production volumes in our U.S. plants, shift production from low-cost locations to the U.S. or refrain from shifting production from U.S. plants to low-cost locations.

The Canadian Loan Agreement and related agreements include certain covenants requiring GMCL to meet certain annual Canadian production volumes expressed as ratios to total overall production volumes in the U.S. and Canada and to overall production volumes in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region. The targets cover vehicles and specified engine and transmission production in Canada. These agreements also include covenants on annual GMCL capital expenditures and research and development expenses. In the event a material adverse change occurs that makes the fulfillment of these covenants non-economic (other than a material adverse change caused by the actions or inactions of GMCL), there is an undertaking that the lender will consider adjustments to mitigate the business effect of the material adverse change. These covenants survive GMCL’s repayment of the loans and certain of the covenants have effect through December 31, 2016.

Compliance with the covenants contained in our new secured revolving credit facility as well as the surviving provisions of the UST Credit Agreement and the Canadian Loan Agreement could restrict our ability to take actions that management believes are important to our long-term strategy. If strategic transactions we wish

 

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to undertake are prohibited, our ability to execute our long-term strategy could be materially adversely affected. Furthermore, monitoring and certifying our compliance with the surviving provisions of the UST Credit Agreement and the Canadian Loan Agreement requires a high level of expense and management attention on a continuing basis.

Our planned investment in new technology in the future is significant and may not be funded at anticipated levels and, even if funded at anticipated levels, may not result in successful vehicle applications.

We intend to invest significant capital resources to support our products and to develop new technology. In addition, we plan to invest heavily in alternative fuel and advanced propulsion technologies between 2010 and 2012, largely to support our planned expansion of hybrid and electric vehicles, consistent with our announced objective of being recognized as the industry leader in fuel efficiency. Moreover, if our future operations do not provide us with the liquidity we anticipate, we may be forced to reduce, delay, or cancel our planned investments in new technology.

In some cases, the technologies that we plan to employ, such as hydrogen fuel cells and advanced battery technology, are not yet commercially practical and depend on significant future technological advances by us and by suppliers. For example, in November 2010 we began producing the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car, which requires battery technology that has not yet proven to be commercially viable. There can be no assurance that these advances will occur in a timely or feasible way, that the funds that we have budgeted for these purposes will be adequate, or that we will be able to establish our right to these technologies. However, our competitors and others are pursuing similar technologies and other competing technologies, in some cases with more money available, and there can be no assurance that they will not acquire similar or superior technologies sooner than we do or on an exclusive basis or at a significant price advantage.

New laws, regulations, or policies of governmental organizations regarding increased fuel economy requirements and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, or changes in existing ones, may have a significant effect on how we do business.

We are affected significantly by governmental regulations that can increase costs related to the production of our vehicles and affect our product portfolio. We anticipate that the number and extent of these regulations, and the related costs and changes to our product lineup, will increase significantly in the future. In the U.S. and Europe, for example, governmental regulation is primarily driven by concerns about the environment (including greenhouse gas emissions), vehicle safety, fuel economy, and energy security. These government regulatory requirements could significantly affect our plans for global product development and may result in substantial costs, including civil penalties. They may also result in limits on the types of vehicles we sell and where we sell them, which can affect revenue.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) provisions in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (the EISA) mandate fuel economy standards beginning in the 2011 model year that would increase to at least 35 mpg by 2020 on a combined car and truck fleet basis, a 40% increase over current levels. In addition, California is implementing a program to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions (AB 1493 Rules) and therefore will require increased fuel economy. This California program has standards currently established for the 2009 model year through the 2016 model year. Thirteen additional states and the Province of Quebec have also adopted the California greenhouse gas standards.

On May 19, 2009, President Obama announced his intention for the federal government to implement a harmonized federal program to regulate fuel economy and greenhouse gases. He directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to work together to create standards through a joint rulemaking for control of emissions of greenhouse gases and for fuel economy. In the first phase, these standards would apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles built in model years 2012 through 2016. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has agreed that compliance with EPA’s greenhouse gas standards will be deemed compliance with the California greenhouse gas

 

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standards for the 2012 through 2016 model years. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on behalf of DOT, issued their final rule to implement this new federal program on April 1, 2010. We have committed to work with EPA, the NHTSA, the states, and other stakeholders in support of a strong national program to reduce oil consumption and address global climate change.

We are committed to meeting or exceeding these regulatory requirements, and our product plan of record projects compliance with the anticipated federal program through the 2016 model year. We expect that to comply with these standards we will be required to sell a significant volume of hybrid or electrically powered vehicles throughout the U.S., as well as implement new technologies for conventional internal combustion engines, all at increased cost levels. There is no assurance that we will be able to produce and sell vehicles that use such technologies on a profitable basis, or that our customers will purchase such vehicles in the quantities necessary for us to comply with these regulatory programs.

In addition, the European Union (EU) passed legislation, effective April 23, 2009, to begin regulating vehicle carbon dioxide emissions beginning in 2012. The legislation sets a target of a fleet average of 95 grams per kilometer for 2020, with the requirements for each manufacturer based on the weight of the vehicles it sells. Additional measures have been proposed or adopted in Europe to regulate features such as tire rolling resistance, vehicle air conditioners, tire pressure monitors, gear shift indicators, and others. At the national level, 17 EU Member States have adopted some form of fuel consumption or carbon dioxide-based vehicle taxation system, which could result in specific market requirements for us to introduce technology earlier than is required for compliance with the EU emissions standards.

Other governments around the world, such as Canada, South Korea, and China are also creating new policies to address these same issues. As in the U.S., these government policies could significantly affect our plans for product development. Due to these regulations, we could be subject to sizable civil penalties or have to restrict product offerings drastically to remain in compliance. Additionally, the regulations will result in substantial costs, which could be difficult to pass through to our customers, and could result in limits on the types of vehicles we sell and where we sell them, which could affect our operations, including facility closings, reduced employment, increased costs, and loss of revenue.

We may be unable to qualify for federal funding for our advanced technology vehicle programs under Section 136 of the EISA or may not be selected to participate in the program.

The U.S. Congress provided the United States Department of Energy (DOE) with $25.0 billion in funding to make direct loans to eligible applicants for the costs of re-equipping, expanding, and establishing manufacturing facilities in the U.S. to produce advanced technology vehicles and components for these vehicles. Old GM submitted three applications for Section 136 Loans aggregating $10.3 billion to support its advanced technology vehicle programs prior to July 2009. Based on the findings of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry (Auto Task Force) under Old GM’s UST Loan Agreement in March 2009, the DOE determined that Old GM did not meet the viability requirements for Section 136 Loans.

On July 10, 2009 we purchased certain assets of Old GM pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, including the rights to the loan applications submitted to the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program (the ATVMIP). Further, we submitted a fourth application in August 2009. Subsequently, the DOE advised us to resubmit a consolidated application including all the four applications submitted earlier and also the Electric Power Steering project acquired from Delphi in October 2009. We submitted the consolidated application in October 2009, which requested an aggregate amount of $14.4 billion of Section 136 Loans. Ongoing product portfolio updates and project modifications requested from the DOE have the potential to reduce the maximum loan amount. To date, the DOE has announced that it would provide approximately $8.4 billion in Section 136 Loans to Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motor Company, Tesla Motors, Inc., Fisker Automotive, Inc., and Tenneco Inc. There can be no assurance that we will qualify for any remaining loans or receive any such loans even if we qualify.

 

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A significant amount of our operations are conducted by joint ventures that we cannot operate solely for our benefit.

Many of our operations, particularly in emerging markets, are carried on by joint ventures such as Shanghai General Motors Co., Ltd. (SGM). In joint ventures, we share ownership and management of a company with one or more parties who may not have the same goals, strategies, priorities, or resources as we do. In general, joint ventures are intended to be operated for the equal benefit of all co-owners, rather than for our exclusive benefit. Operating a business as a joint venture often requires additional organizational formalities as well as time-consuming procedures for sharing information and making decisions. In joint ventures, we are required to pay more attention to our relationship with our co-owners as well as with the joint venture, and if a co-owner changes, our relationship may be materially adversely affected. In addition, the benefits from a successful joint venture are shared among the co-owners, so that we do not receive all the benefits from our successful joint ventures.

Our business in China is subject to aggressive competition and is sensitive to economic and market conditions.

Maintaining a strong position in the Chinese market is a key component of our global growth strategy. The automotive market in China is highly competitive, with competition from many of the largest global manufacturers and numerous smaller domestic manufacturers. As the size of the Chinese market continues to increase, we anticipate that additional competitors, both international and domestic, will seek to enter the Chinese market and that existing market participants will act aggressively to increase their market share. Increased competition may result in price reductions, reduced margins and our inability to gain or hold market share. In addition, our business in China is sensitive to economic and market conditions that drive sales volume in China. If we are unable to maintain our position in the Chinese market or if vehicle sales in China decrease or do not continue to increase, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

Shortages of and volatility in the price of oil have caused and may have a material adverse effect on our business due to shifts in consumer vehicle demand.

Volatile oil prices in 2008 and 2009 contributed to weaker demand for some of Old GM’s and our higher margin vehicles, especially our fullsize sport utility vehicles, as consumer demand shifted to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, which provide lower profit margins and in recent years represented a smaller proportion of Old GM’s and our sales volume in North America. Fullsize pick-up trucks, which are generally less fuel efficient than smaller vehicles, represented a higher percentage of Old GM’s and our North American sales during 2008 and 2009 compared to the total industry average percentage of fullsize pick-up truck sales in those periods. Demand for traditional sport utility vehicles and vans also declined during the same periods. Any future increases in the price of oil in the U.S. or in our other markets or any sustained shortage of oil could further weaken the demand for such vehicles, which could reduce our market share in affected markets, decrease profitability, and have a material adverse effect on our business.

Restrictions in our labor agreements could limit our ability to pursue or achieve cost savings through restructuring initiatives, and labor strikes, work stoppages, or similar difficulties could significantly disrupt our operations.

Substantially all of the hourly employees in our U.S., Canadian, and European automotive operations are represented by labor unions and are covered by collective bargaining agreements, which usually have a multi- year duration. Many of these agreements include provisions that limit our ability to realize cost savings from restructuring initiatives such as plant closings and reductions in workforce. Our current collective bargaining agreement with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) will expire in September 2011, and while the UAW has agreed to a commitment not to strike prior to 2015, any UAW strikes, threats of strikes, or other resistance in the future could materially adversely affect our business as well as impair our ability to implement further measures to reduce costs and improve

 

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production efficiencies in furtherance of our North American initiatives. A lengthy strike by the UAW that involves all or a significant portion of our manufacturing facilities in the United States would have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition, particularly our liquidity.

Despite the formation of our new company, we continue to have indebtedness and other obligations. Our obligations together with our cash needs may require us to seek additional financing, minimize capital expenditures, or seek to refinance some or all of our debt.

Despite the formation of our new company, we continue to have indebtedness and other obligations, including significant liabilities to our underfunded defined benefit pension plans. Our current and future indebtedness and other obligations could have several important consequences. For example, they could:

 

   

Require us to dedicate a larger portion of our cash flow from operations than we currently do to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness and other obligations, which will reduce the funds available for other purposes such as product development;

 

   

Make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations;

 

   

Make us more vulnerable to adverse economic and industry conditions and adverse developments in our business;

 

   

Limit our ability to withstand competitive pressures;

 

   

Limit our ability to fund working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate purposes; and

 

   

Reduce our flexibility in responding to changing business and economic conditions.

Future liquidity needs may require us to seek additional financing or minimize capital expenditures. There is no assurance that either of these alternatives would be available to us on satisfactory terms or on terms that would not require us to renegotiate the terms and conditions of our existing debt agreements.

Our failure to comply with the covenants in the agreements governing our present and future indebtedness could materially adversely affect our financial condition and liquidity.

Several of the agreements governing our indebtedness, including our new secured revolving credit facility and other loan facility agreements, contain covenants requiring us to take certain actions and negative covenants restricting our ability to take certain actions. In the past, we have failed to meet certain of these covenants, including by failing to provide financial statements in a timely manner and failing certain financial tests. In addition, the Chapter 11 Proceedings and the change in control as a result of the 363 Sale triggered technical defaults in certain loans for which we had assumed the obligations. A breach of any of the covenants in the agreements governing our indebtedness, if uncured, could lead to an event of default under any such agreements, which in some circumstances could give the lender the right to demand that we accelerate repayment of amounts due under the agreement. Therefore, in the event of any such breach, we may need to seek covenant waivers or amendments from the lenders or to seek alternative or additional sources of financing, and we cannot assure you that we would be able to obtain any such waivers or amendments or alternative or additional financing on acceptable terms, if at all. Refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Other Liquidity Issues—Technical Defaults and Covenant Violations” and to Note 13 to our unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for additional information on technical defaults and covenant violations that have occurred recently. In addition, any covenant breach or event of default could harm our credit rating and our ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms. The occurrence of any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and liquidity.

 

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The ability of our new executive management team to quickly learn the automotive industry and lead our company will be critical to our ability to succeed, and our business and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if they are unsuccessful.

Within the past year we have substantially changed our executive management team. We have a new Chief Executive Officer who started on September 1, 2010 and a new Chief Financial Officer who started on January 1, 2010, both of whom have no outside automotive industry experience. We have also promoted from within GM many new senior officers. It is important to our success that the new members of the executive management team quickly understand the automotive industry and that our senior officers quickly adapt and excel in their new senior management roles. If they are unable to do so, and as a result are unable to provide effective guidance and leadership, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

We could be materially adversely affected by changes or imbalances in foreign currency exchange and other rates.

Given the nature and global spread of our business, we have significant exposures to risks related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, commodity prices, and interest rates, which can have material adverse effects on our business. For example, at times certain of our competitors have derived competitive advantage from relative weakness of the Japanese Yen through pricing advantages for vehicles and parts imported from Japan to markets with more robust currencies like the U.S. and Western Europe. Similarly, a significant strengthening of the Korean Won relative to the U.S. dollar or the Euro would affect the competitiveness of our Korean operations as well as that of certain Korean competitors. As yet another example, a relative weakness of the British Pound compared to the Euro has an adverse effect on our results of operations in Europe. In addition, in preparing our consolidated financial statements, we translate our revenues and expenses outside the U.S. into U.S. Dollars using the average foreign currency exchange rate for the period and the assets and liabilities using the foreign currency exchange rate at the balance sheet date. As a result, foreign currency fluctuations and the associated translations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our businesses outside the U.S. expose us to additional risks that may materially adversely affect our business.

The majority of our vehicle sales are generated outside the U.S. We are pursuing growth opportunities for our business in a variety of business environments outside the U.S. Operating in a large number of different regions and countries exposes us to political, economic, and other risks as well as multiple foreign regulatory requirements that are subject to change, including:

 

   

Economic downturns in foreign countries or geographic regions where we have significant operations, such as China;

 

   

Economic tensions between governments and changes in international trade and investment policies, including imposing restrictions on the repatriation of dividends, especially between the United States and China;

 

   

Foreign regulations restricting our ability to sell our products in those countries;

 

   

Differing local product preferences and product requirements, including fuel economy, vehicle emissions, and safety;

 

   

Differing labor regulations and union relationships;

 

   

Consequences from changes in tax laws;

 

   

Difficulties in obtaining financing in foreign countries for local operations; and

 

   

Political and economic instability, natural calamities, war, and terrorism.

 

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The effects of these risks may, individually or in the aggregate, materially adversely affect our business.

New laws, regulations, or policies of governmental organizations regarding safety standards, or changes in existing ones, may have a significant negative effect on how we do business.

Our products must satisfy legal safety requirements. Meeting or exceeding government-mandated safety standards is difficult and costly because crashworthiness standards tend to conflict with the need to reduce vehicle weight in order to meet emissions and fuel economy standards. While we are managing our product development and production operations on a global basis to reduce costs and lead times, unique national or regional standards or vehicle rating programs can result in additional costs for product development, testing, and manufacturing. Governments often require the implementation of new requirements during the middle of a product cycle, which can be substantially more expensive than accommodating these requirements during the design of a new product.

The costs and effect on our reputation of product recalls could materially adversely affect our business.

From time to time, we recall our products to address performance, compliance, or safety-related issues. The costs we incur in connection with these recalls typically include the cost of the part being replaced and labor to remove and replace the defective part. In addition, product recalls can harm our reputation and cause us to lose customers, particularly if those recalls cause consumers to question the safety or reliability of our products. Any costs incurred or lost sales caused by future product recalls could materially adversely affect our business. Conversely, not issuing a recall or not issuing a recall on a timely basis can harm our reputation and cause us to lose customers for the same reasons as expressed above.

We have determined that our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting are currently not effective. The lack of effective internal controls could materially adversely affect our financial condition and ability to carry out our business plan.

Our management team for financial reporting, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our internal controls. At December 31, 2009, because of the inability to sufficiently test the effectiveness of remediated internal controls, we concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective. At September 30, 2010 we concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at a reasonable assurance level because of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting that continued to exist. Until we have been able to test the operating effectiveness of remediated internal controls and ensure the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, any material weaknesses may materially adversely affect our ability to report accurately our financial condition and results of operations in the future in a timely and reliable manner. In addition, although we continually review and evaluate internal control systems to allow management to report on the sufficiency of our internal controls, we cannot assure you that we will not discover additional weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Any such additional weakness or failure to remediate the existing weakness could materially adversely affect our financial condition or ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and the requirements of the Company’s various financing agreements.

Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

The sale or availability for sale of substantial amounts of our common stock could cause our common stock price to decline or impair our ability to raise capital.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market following this offering, or the perception that large sales could occur, or the conversion of shares of our Series B preferred stock or the perception that conversion could occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of equity and equity-related securities. Upon completion of this offering, there will be

 

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1,500,000,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. In addition, as of November 2, 2010, MLC holds a warrant to acquire 136,363,636 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $10.00 per share, MLC holds another warrant to acquire 136,363,636 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $18.33 per share, and the New VEBA holds a warrant to acquire 45,454,545 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $42.31 per share. If the concurrent offering of Series B preferred stock is completed, up to              shares of common stock (up to              shares if the underwriters in that offering exercise their over-allotment option in full), in each case subject to anti-dilution, make-whole and other adjustments, will be issuable upon conversion of the shares of Series B preferred stock.

Of the 1,500,000,000 outstanding shares of common stock, the 365,000,000 shares of common stock to be sold in this offering (419,750,000 shares if the underwriters in this offering exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), unless those shares are held by any of our “affiliates,” as that term is defined under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. Following the expiration of any applicable lock-up periods referred to in the section of this prospectus entitled “Shares Eligible for Future Sale,” the 1,135,000,000 remaining outstanding shares of common stock (1,080,250,000 remaining outstanding shares if the underwriters in this offering exercise their over-allotment option in full) may be eligible for resale under Rule 144 under the Securities Act subject to applicable restrictions under Rule 144. In addition, pursuant to the October 15, 2009 Equity Registration Rights Agreement we entered into with the UST, Canada Holdings, the New VEBA, MLC, and our previous legal entity prior to our October 2009 holding company reorganization (which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company) (Equity Registration Rights Agreement), we have granted our existing common stockholders the right to require us in certain circumstances to file registration statements under the Securities Act covering additional resales of our common stock and other equity securities (including the warrants) held by them and the right to participate in other registered offerings in certain circumstances. As restrictions on resale end or if these stockholders exercise their registration rights or otherwise sell their shares, the market price of our common stock could decline.

In particular, following this offering, the UST, Canada Holdings, the New VEBA and MLC might sell a large number of the shares of our common stock and warrants to acquire our common stock that they hold, or exercise their warrants and then sell the underlying shares of our common stock. Further, MLC might distribute shares of our common stock and warrants to acquire our common stock that it holds to its numerous creditors and other stakeholders pursuant to a plan of reorganization confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court in the Chapter 11 Proceedings, and those creditors and other stakeholders might resell those shares and warrants. Such sales or distributions of a substantial number of shares of our common stock or warrants could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Furthermore, we expect to contribute $2.0 billion of our common stock to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans after the completion of this offering and contingent on Department of Labor approval. Based on the number of shares determined using an assumed public offering price per share of our common stock in this offering of $32.50, the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, this anticipated contribution would consist of 61.5 million shares of our common stock. Although we reserve the right to modify the amount or timing of the contribution, or to not make the contribution at all, we currently expect to complete the contribution to the pension plans in the near-term. In connection with any such contribution, we expect to grant the pension plans the right to require us in certain circumstances to file registration statements under the Securities Act covering additional resales of those shares of our common stock held by them and the right to participate in other registered offerings in certain circumstances. If the pension plans exercise their registration rights or otherwise sell their shares, the market price of our common stock could decline.

We have no current plans to pay dividends on our common stock, and our ability to pay dividends on our common stock may be limited.

We have no current plans to commence payment of a dividend on our common stock. Our payment of dividends on our common stock in the future will be determined by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend on business conditions, our financial condition, earnings and liquidity, and other factors. So long as any share of our

 

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Series A Preferred Stock or our Series B preferred stock remains outstanding, no dividend or distribution may be declared or paid on our common stock unless all accrued and unpaid dividends have been paid on our Series A Preferred Stock and our Series B preferred stock, subject to exceptions, such as dividends on our common stock payable solely in shares of our common stock. In addition, our new secured revolving credit facility contains certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends on our common stock, other than dividends payable solely in shares of our capital stock.

Any indentures and other financing agreements that we enter into in the future may limit our ability to pay cash dividends on our capital stock, including our common stock. In the event that any of our indentures or other financing agreements in the future restrict our ability to pay dividends in cash on our common stock, we may be unable to pay dividends in cash on our common stock unless we can refinance the amounts outstanding under those agreements.

In addition, under Delaware law, our Board of Directors may declare dividends on our capital stock only to the extent of our statutory “surplus” (which is defined as the amount equal to total assets minus total liabilities, in each case at fair market value, minus statutory capital), or if there is no such surplus, out of our net profits for the then current and/or immediately preceding fiscal year. Further, even if we are permitted under our contractual obligations and Delaware law to pay cash dividends on our common stock, we may not have sufficient cash to pay dividends in cash on our common stock.

Anti-takeover provisions contained in our organizational documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a takeover attempt or change in control of our company, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended (Certificate of Incorporation), our amended and restated bylaws, as amended (Bylaws), and Delaware law contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult or discouraging an acquisition deemed undesirable by our Board of Directors. Our organizational documents include provisions:

 

   

Restricting transfers of various securities of the Company (including shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase our common stock, and shares of our Series B preferred stock issued in the Series B preferred stock offering) if the effect would be to (1) generally increase the direct or indirect stock ownership by any person or group from less than 4.9% of the value of all such securities of the Company to 4.9% or more or (2) generally increase the direct or indirect stock ownership of a person or group having or deemed to have a stock ownership of 4.9% or more of the value of all such securities of the Company (these restrictions are intended to protect against a limitation on our ability to use net operating loss carryovers and other tax benefits);

 

   

Authorizing blank check preferred stock, which could be issued with voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock;

 

   

Limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers;

 

   

Limiting the ability of our stockholders to call and bring business before special meetings;

 

   

Prohibiting our stockholders, after the completion of this offering, from taking action by written consent in lieu of a meeting except where such consent is signed by the holders of all shares of stock of the Company then outstanding and entitled to vote;

 

   

Requiring, after the completion of this offering, advance notice of stockholder proposals for business to be conducted at meetings of our stockholders and for nomination of candidates for election to our Board of Directors; and

 

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Limiting, after the completion of this offering, the determination of the number of directors on our Board of Directors and the filling of vacancies or newly created seats on the board to our Board of Directors then in office.

These provisions, alone or together, could delay hostile takeovers and changes in control of the Company or changes in management.

In addition, after the completion of this offering, we will be subject to Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the DGCL), which generally prohibits a corporation from engaging in various business combination transactions with any “interested stockholder” (generally defined as a stockholder who owns 15% or more of a corporation’s voting stock) for a period of three years following the time that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, except under certain circumstances including receipt of prior board approval.

Any provision of our Certificate of Incorporation or our Bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a hostile takeover or change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

See the sections of this prospectus entitled “Description of Capital Stock—Certain Provisions of Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws” and “Description of Capital Stock—Certain Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law” for a further discussion of these provisions.

The Series B preferred stock may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock is likely to be influenced by the Series B preferred stock. For example, the market price of our common stock could become more volatile and could be depressed by:

 

   

investors’ anticipation of the potential resale in the market of a substantial number of additional shares of our common stock received upon conversion of the Series B preferred stock;

 

   

possible sales of our common stock by investors who view the Series B preferred stock as a more attractive means of equity participation in us than owning shares of our common stock; and

 

   

hedging or arbitrage trading activity that may develop involving the Series B preferred stock and our common stock.

If an unauthorized e-mail message sent by an employee of a previously-named proposed underwriter that will not participate in the common stock offering and the Series B preferred stock offering were held to violate the Securities Act, some purchasers of securities in the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering may have the right to seek refunds or damages.

Prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, an employee of a previously-named proposed underwriter for the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering distributed an unauthorized e-mail to various potential institutional accounts. We were not involved in any way in the preparation or distribution of the e-mail by the employee of the previously-named proposed underwriter, we had no knowledge of the e-mail until after it was sent, and the e-mail does not reflect our views. In addition, this previously-named proposed underwriter will not participate as an underwriter in the common stock offering or the Series B preferred stock offering. The e-mail message may constitute a prospectus that does not meet the requirements of the Securities Act. Any potential investor who received the e-mail should not rely upon it in any manner in making a decision whether to purchase our securities in this offering. We, the selling stockholders in the common stock offering and the underwriters in the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering disclaim all responsibility for the content of the e-mail. If the distribution of the e-mail did constitute a

 

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violation of the Securities Act, the recipients who purchase our securities in the common stock offering or Series B preferred stock offering may have the right to obtain recovery of the consideration paid in connection with their purchase or, if they had already sold the securities, sue us for damages resulting from their purchase. If any liability is asserted, we intend to contest the matter vigorously. We do not believe that we will be subject to any material liability as a result of the distribution of the e-mail.

Our views on the fourth quarter rely in large part upon assumptions and analyses we developed. If these assumptions and analyses prove to be incorrect, actual results could vary significantly from our views. If our actual results are lower than our anticipated results it could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

Our views on the fourth quarter rely in large part upon assumptions and analyses that we developed based on our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we consider appropriate under the circumstances. Whether actual future results and developments will be consistent with our expectations as set forth in the sections of this prospectus entitled “Prospectus Summary—Recent Developments” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Projected Fourth Quarter Results” depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

 

   

The effect of changes in consumer demand on our product mix;

 

   

Our ability to realize production efficiencies and control costs, particularly as it relates to engineering and marketing expenses;

 

   

Consumers’ confidence in our products and our ability to continue to attract customers, particularly for our new products, including cars and crossover vehicles;

 

   

The availability of adequate financing on acceptable terms to our customers, dealers, distributors and suppliers to enable them to continue their business relationships with us;

 

   

The ability of our foreign operations to successfully restructure;

 

   

The effect of foreign currency exchange rates on our revenue and expenses;

 

   

Shortages of and increases or volatility in the price of oil;

 

   

Our ability to maintain quality control over our vehicles and avoid material vehicle recalls; and

 

   

The overall strength and stability of general economic conditions and of the automotive industry, both in the United States and in global markets.

Views on future financial performance are necessarily speculative, and it is likely that one or more of the assumptions that are the basis of these financial forecasts will not come to fruition. Accordingly, we believe that our actual financial condition and results of operations could differ, perhaps materially, from what we describe in the sections of this prospectus entitled “Prospectus Summary—Recent Developments” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Projected Fourth Quarter Results.” Consequently, there can be no assurance that the results or developments predicted will occur. The failure of any such results or developments to materialize as anticipated or the occurrence of unanticipated events or uncertainties could materially adversely affect our stock price.

The UST, a selling stockholder in the common stock offering, is a federal agency, and your ability to bring a claim against it under the U.S. securities laws or otherwise may be limited.

The doctrine of sovereign immunity provides that claims may not be brought against the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality thereof unless specifically permitted by act of Congress. Although Congress has enacted a number of statutes, including the Federal Tort Claims Act (the FTCA), that permit

 

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various claims against the United States and agencies and instrumentalities thereof, those statutes impose limitations. In particular, while the FTCA permits various tort claims against the United States, it excludes claims for fraud or misrepresentation. At least one federal court, in a case involving a federal agency, has held that the United States may assert its sovereign immunity to claims brought under the federal securities laws. In addition, the UST and its officers, agents and employees are exempt from liability for any violation or alleged violation of the anti-fraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), by virtue of Section 3(c) thereof. Thus, any attempt to assert a claim against the UST or any of its officers, agents or employees alleging a violation of the U.S. securities laws, including the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, resulting from an alleged material misstatement in or material omission from this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or any other act or omission in connection with this offering, would likely be barred. Further, any attempt to assert a claim against the UST or any of its officers, agents or employees alleging any other complaint, including as a result of any future action by the UST as a stockholder of the Company, would also likely be barred under sovereign immunity unless specifically permitted by act of Congress.

Canada Holdings, a selling stockholder in the common stock offering, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada Development Investment Corporation, which is owned by the federal Government of Canada, and your ability to bring a claim against Canada Holdings under the U.S. securities laws or otherwise, or to recover on any judgment against it, may be limited.

Canada Holdings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada Development Investment Corporation. Canada Development Investment Corporation is a Canadian federal Crown corporation, meaning that it is a business corporation established under the Canada Business Corporations Act, owned by the federal Government of Canada. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (the FSIA) provides that, subject to existing international agreements to which the United States was a party at the time of the enactment of the FSIA, a foreign state or any agency or instrumentality of a foreign state is immune from U.S. federal and state court jurisdiction unless a specific exception to the FSIA applies. One such exception under the FSIA applies to claims arising out of “commercial activity” by a foreign state or its agency or instrumentality. However, it is not certain that a court would consider any acts or omissions by Canada Holdings in connection with this offering or otherwise to be “commercial activities” under the FSIA. Absent an applicable exception under the FSIA, any attempt to assert a claim against Canada Holdings alleging a violation of the U.S. securities laws, including the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, resulting from an alleged material misstatement in or material omission from this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or any other act or omission in connection with this offering, may be barred. Further, absent an applicable exception under the FSIA, any attempt to assert a claim against Canada Holdings or any of its officers, agents or employees alleging any other complaint, including as a result of any future action by Canada Holdings as a stockholder of the Company, may also be barred.

In addition, even if a U.S. judgment could be obtained in such an action, it may not be possible to enforce in Canada a judgment based on such a U.S. judgment, and it may also not be possible to execute upon property of Canada Holdings in the United States to enforce a U.S. judgment.

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus may include forward-looking statements. Our use of the words “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “potential,” “expects,” “plans,” “seeks,” “intends,” “evaluates,” “pursues,” “anticipates,” “continues,” “designs,” “impacts,” “affects,” “forecasts,” “target,” “outlook,” “initiative,” “objective,” “designed,” “priorities,” “goal,” or the negative of those words or other similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements that represent our current judgment about possible future events. All statements in this prospectus, and in related comments by our management, other than statements of historical facts, including statements about future events or financial performance, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties.

These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate in the circumstances. While these statements represent our current judgment on what the future may hold, and we believe these judgments are reasonable, these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results. Whether actual future results and developments will conform to our expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in this prospectus under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere, and other factors including the following, many of which are beyond our control:

 

   

Our ability to realize production efficiencies and to achieve reductions in costs as a result of our restructuring initiatives and labor modifications;

 

   

Our ability to maintain quality control over our vehicles and avoid material vehicle recalls;

 

   

Our ability to maintain adequate liquidity and financing sources and an appropriate level of debt, including as required to fund our planned significant investment in new technology, and, even if funded, our ability to realize successful vehicle applications of new technology;

 

   

The effect of business or liquidity difficulties for us or one or more subsidiaries on other entities in our corporate group as a result of our highly integrated and complex corporate structure and operation;

 

   

Our ability to continue to attract customers, particularly for our new products, including cars and crossover vehicles;

 

   

Availability of adequate financing on acceptable terms to our customers, dealers, distributors and suppliers to enable them to continue their business relationships with us;

 

   

The financial viability and ability to borrow of our key suppliers and their ability to provide systems, components and parts without disruption;

 

   

Our ability to take actions we believe are important to our long-term strategy, including our ability to enter into certain material transactions outside of the ordinary course of business, which may be limited due to significant covenants in our new secured revolving credit facility;

 

   

Our ability to manage the distribution channels for our products, including our ability to consolidate our dealer network;

 

   

Our ability to qualify for federal funding of our advanced technology vehicle programs under Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007;

 

   

The ability to successfully restructure our European operations;

 

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The continued availability of both wholesale and retail financing from Ally Financial and its affiliates in the United States, Canada and the other markets in which we operate to support our ability to sell vehicles in those markets, which is dependent on Ally Financial’s ability to obtain funding and which may be suspended by Ally Financial if Ally Financial’s credit exposure to us exceeds certain limitations provided in our operating arrangements with Ally Financial;

 

   

Our ability to develop captive financing capability, including through GM Financial;

 

   

Overall strength and stability of general economic conditions and of the automotive industry, both in the United States and in global markets;

 

   

Continued economic instability or poor economic conditions in the United States and global markets, including the credit markets, or changes in economic conditions, commodity prices, housing prices, foreign currency exchange rates or political stability in the markets in which we operate;

 

   

Shortages of and increases or volatility in the price of oil;

 

   

Significant changes in the competitive environment, including the effect of competition and excess manufacturing capacity in our markets, on our pricing policies or use of incentives and the introduction of new and improved vehicle models by our competitors;

 

   

Significant changes in economic and market conditions in China, including the effect of competition from new market entrants, on our vehicle sales and market position in China;

 

   

Changes in the existing, or the adoption of new, laws, regulations, policies or other activities of governments, agencies and similar organizations, including where such actions may affect the production, licensing, distribution or sale of our products, the cost thereof or applicable tax rates;

 

   

Costs and risks associated with litigation;

 

   

Significant increases in our pension expense or projected pension contributions resulting from changes in the value of plan assets, the discount rate applied to value the pension liabilities or other assumption changes; and

 

   

Changes in accounting principles, or their application or interpretation, and our ability to make estimates and the assumptions underlying the estimates, which could have an effect on earnings.

Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this prospectus are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments that we anticipate will be realized or, even if realized, that they will have the expected consequences to or effects on us and our subsidiaries or our businesses or operations. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or other such factors that affect the subject of these statements, except where we are expressly required to do so by law.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders (including any shares sold by the selling stockholders pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option) in the common stock offering.

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the offering of our Series B preferred stock, based upon an assumed public offering price per share of our Series B preferred stock of $50.00, will be approximately $3.9 billion (or approximately $4.4 billion if the underwriters in the Series B preferred stock offering exercise their over-allotment option in full), after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The following table illustrates the estimated sources and uses of funds for our expected capital structure actions:

 

     Amount
(in  millions)
 

Sources of Funds:

  

Cash on hand

   $ 2,275   

Net proceeds from the Series B preferred stock offering (1)

     3,865   
        

Total sources

   $ 6,140   
        

Uses of Funds:

  

Purchase of Series A Preferred Stock (2)

   $ 2,140   

Cash contribution to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans (3)

     4,000   
        

Total uses

   $ 6,140   
        

 

(1) Assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the Series B preferred stock offering. Amount shown does not reflect the agreement by the underwriters to reimburse us for a portion of our legal and road show costs and expenses in connection with the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering, up to a maximum aggregate amount of $3.0 million.

 

(2) Represents an agreement with the UST to repurchase 83.9 million shares of our Series A Preferred Stock from the UST for a purchase price equal to 102% of their $2.1 billion aggregate liquidation amount. The Series A Preferred Stock accrues cumulative dividends at a 9% annual rate.

 

(3) Represents a $4.0 billion cash contribution to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans that we expect to implement after the completion of the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering. In addition to the cash contribution, we also expect to contribute $2.0 billion of our common stock to those pension plans after the completion of the common stock offering and Series B preferred stock offering, contingent on Department of Labor approval, which we expect to receive in the near-term. Although we currently expect to make the pension plan contributions, we are not obligated to do so and cannot assure you that those actions will occur.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

The declaration of any dividend on our common stock or our Series B preferred stock is a matter to be acted upon by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion. Our payment of dividends on our common stock and our Series B preferred stock in the future will be determined by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend on business conditions, our financial condition, earnings, liquidity and capital requirements, the covenants in our new secured revolving credit facility, and other factors. We have no current plans to pay dividends on our common stock.

So long as any share of our Series A Preferred Stock or our Series B preferred stock remains outstanding, no dividend or distribution may be declared or paid on our common stock unless all accrued and unpaid dividends have been paid on our Series A Preferred Stock and our Series B preferred stock, subject to exceptions, such as dividends on our common stock payable solely in shares of our common stock. In addition, our new secured revolving credit facility contains certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends on our common stock, other than dividends payable solely in shares of our capital stock. Refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—New Secured Revolving Credit Facility” for a more detailed discussion of our new secured revolving credit facility.

So long as any share of our Series A Preferred Stock remains outstanding, no dividend or distribution may be declared or paid on our Series B preferred stock unless all accrued and unpaid dividends have been paid on our Series A Preferred Stock, subject to exceptions, such as dividends on our Series B preferred stock payable solely in shares of our common stock.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of September 30, 2010, actual and as adjusted to reflect: (1) the issuance and sale by us of 80,000,000 shares of our Series B preferred stock, which is contingent upon the closing of the offering of common stock, at a public offering price of $50.00 per share of Series B preferred stock (assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the Series B preferred stock offering); (2) the repayment of the VEBA Notes of $2.8 billion (with a carrying amount of $3.0 billion at September 30, 2010); (3) the purchase of the Series A Preferred Stock held by the UST for 102% of their $2.1 billion aggregate liquidation amount and the corresponding reclassification into stockholders’ equity of the remaining outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock; (4) the contribution of cash of $4.0 billion to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans; (5) the application of the net proceeds of the offering of our Series B preferred stock and use of a portion of our cash on hand as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Use of Proceeds;” and (6) the three-for-one stock split on shares of our common stock effected on November 1, 2010. Our capitalization, on an as adjusted basis, does not encompass the expected contribution of $2.0 billion of our common stock to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans after the closing of the common stock offering and the Series B preferred stock offering and approval from the Department of Labor, which we expect to receive in the near-term, as these shares would not be considered outstanding for accounting purposes until certain transfer restrictions are eliminated. Our new secured revolving credit facility of $5.0 billion is also excluded as we do not expect to draw on the facility in the immediate future.

The as adjusted information below is illustrative only, and our capitalization following the closing of this offering will be adjusted based upon the public offering price for the offering of our Series B preferred stock and other terms of the offering of our Series B preferred stock determined at pricing. You should read the information set forth below in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and the notes thereto and the sections of this prospectus entitled “Selected Historical Financial and Operating Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

         As of September 30, 2010      
     Unaudited  

 

(Dollars in millions, except share amounts)

       Actual         As
    Adjusted     
 

Cash and cash equivalents (excluding Restricted cash and marketable securities)

   $ 27,446      $ 22,394   
                

Short-term debt, including current portion of long-term debt

   $ 5,621      $ 2,661   

Long-term debt

     2,945        2,945   

Series A Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value; 360,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual

     6,998          

Stockholders’ equity

    

Series A Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value; 276,101,695 shares issued and outstanding, as adjusted

            5,535   

Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 0 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 80,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, as adjusted(a)

            3,865   

Common stock, $0.01 par value; 1,500,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted

     15        15   

Capital surplus (principally additional paid-in capital)

     24,041        24,041   

Accumulated deficit

     (236     (730

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

     (1,073     (1,073
                

Total stockholders’ equity

     22,747        31,653   
                

Total capitalization

   $ 38,311      $ 37,259   
                

 

(a) The balance sheet classification of the Series B preferred stock will be determined in accordance with applicable accounting requirements upon closing of the Series B preferred stock offering and issuance of the shares of Series B preferred stock.

 

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SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA

The following table summarizes the consolidated historical financial data of General Motors Company (Successor) and Old GM (Predecessor) for the periods presented. We derived the consolidated historical financial data for the periods July 10, 2009 through December 31, 2009 (Successor) and January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 (Predecessor) and the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007 (Predecessor) and as of December 31, 2009 (Successor) and December 31, 2008 (Predecessor) from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We derived the consolidated historical financial statement data for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 (Predecessor) and as of December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005 (Predecessor) from our audited consolidated financial statements for such years, which are not included in this prospectus. We derived the consolidated historical financial data for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and as of September 30, 2010 from the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The data set forth in the following table should be read together with the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have prepared the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements and, in our opinion, have included all adjustments necessary to present fairly in all material respects our financial position and results of operations. Historical results for any prior period are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in any future period, and results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for a full fiscal year.

 

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Selected Financial Data

(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

 

    Successor           Predecessor  
    Nine  Months
Ended
September 30,
2010(a)
    July 10, 2009
Through
December  31,
2009(a)(b)
          January  1,
2009
Through
July 9,  2009
    Years Ended December 31,  
          2008     2007     2006     2005  
    Unaudited                                            

Income Statement Data:

                 

Total net sales and revenue(c)

  $ 98,710      $ 57,474          $ 47,115      $ 148,979      $ 179,984      $ 204,467      $ 192,143   
                                                           

Reorganization gains, net(d)

  $      $          $ 128,155      $      $      $      $   
                                                           

Income (loss) from continuing operations(d)(e)

  $ 5,031      $ (3,786       $ 109,003      $ (31,051   $ (42,685   $ (2,155   $ (10,625

Income from discontinued operations, net of tax(f)

                                    256        445        313   

Gain on sale of discontinued operations, net of tax(f)

                                    4,293                 

Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle(g)

                                                  (109
                                                           

Net income (loss)(d)

    5,031        (3,786         109,003        (31,051     (38,136     (1,710     (10,421

Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests

    265        511            (115     (108     406        324        48   

Less: Cumulative dividends on preferred stock

    608        131                                          
                                                           

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders(d)

  $ 4,158      $ (4,428       $ 109,118      $ (30,943   $ (38,542   $ (2,034   $ (10,469
                                                           

GM $0.01 par value common stock and Old GM $1-2/3 par value common stock

                 

Basic earnings (loss) per share:

                 

Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to common stockholders before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $ 2.77      $ (3.58       $ 178.63      $ (53.47   $ (76.16   $ (4.39   $ (18.87

Income from discontinued operations attributable to common stockholders(f)

                                    8.04        0.79        0.55   

Loss from cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle attributable to common stockholders(g)

                                                  (0.19
                                                           

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

    2.77      $ (3.58       $ 178.63      $ (53.47   $ (68.12   $ (3.60   $ (18.51
                                                           

Diluted earnings (loss) per share:

                 

Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to common stockholders before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle

  $ 2.62      $ (3.58       $ 178.55      $ (53.47   $ (76.16   $ (4.39   $ (18.87

Income from discontinued operations attributable to common stockholders(f)

                                    8.04        0.79        0.55   

Loss from cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle attributable to common stockholders(g)

                                                  (0.19
                                                           

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

  $ 2.62      $ (3.58       $ 178.55      $ (53.47   $ (68.12   $ (3.60   $ (18.51
                                                           

Cash dividends per common share

  $      $          $      $ 0.50      $ 1.00      $ 1.00      $ 2.00   
 

Balance Sheet Data (as of period end):

                 

Total assets(c)(e)(h)

  $ 137,238      $ 136,295            $ 91,039      $ 148,846      $ 185,995      $ 473,938   

Notes and loans payable(c)(i)

  $ 8,566      $ 15,783            $ 45,938      $ 43,578      $ 47,476      $ 286,943   

Series A Preferred Stock

  $ 6,998      $ 6,998            $      $      $      $   

Equity (deficit)(e)(g)(j)(k)

  $ 23,718      $ 21,957            $ (85,076   $ (35,152   $ (4,076   $ 15,931   

 

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(a) All applicable Successor share, per share and related information has been adjusted retroactively for the three-for-one stock split effected on November 1, 2010.
(b) At July 10, 2009 we applied fresh-start reporting following the guidance in ASC 852, “Reorganizations.” The audited consolidated financial statements for the periods ended on or before July 9, 2009 do not include the effect of any changes in the fair value of assets or liabilities as a result of the application of fresh-start reporting. Therefore, our financial information at and for any period after July 10, 2009 is not comparable to Old GM’s financial information. We have not included pro forma financial information giving effect to the Chapter 11 Proceedings and the 363 Sale because the latest filed balance sheet, as well as the December 31, 2009 audited financial statements, include the effects of the 363 Sale. As such, we believe that further information would not be material to investors.
(c) In November 2006 Old GM sold a 51% controlling ownership interest in Ally Financial, resulting in a significant decrease in total consolidated net sales and revenue, assets and notes and loans payable.
(d) In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Old GM recorded Reorganization gains, net of $128.2 billion directly associated with the Chapter 11 Proceedings, the 363 Sale and the application of fresh-start reporting. Refer to Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements for additional detail.
(e) In September 2007 Old GM recorded full valuation allowances of $39.0 billion against net deferred tax assets in Canada, Germany and the United States.
(f) In August 2007 Old GM completed the sale of the commercial and military operations of its Allison business. The results of operations, cash flows and the 2007 gain on sale of Allison have been reported as discontinued operations for all periods presented.
(g) In December 2005 Old GM recorded an asset retirement obligation of $181 million, which was $109 million net of related income tax effects.
(h) In December 2006 Old GM recorded the funded status of its benefit plans on the consolidated balance sheet with an offsetting adjustment to Accumulated other comprehensive loss of $16.9 billion in accordance with the adoption of new provisions of ASC 715, “Compensation – Retirement Benefits” (ASC 715).
(i) In December 2008 Old GM entered into the UST Loan Agreement, pursuant to which the UST agreed to provide a $13.4 billion UST Loan Facility. In December 2008 Old GM borrowed $4.0 billion under the UST Loan Facility.
(j) In January 2007 Old GM recorded a decrease to Retained earnings of $425 million and a decrease of $1.2 billion to Accumulated other comprehensive loss in accordance with the early adoption of the measurement provisions of ASC 715.
(k) In January 2007 Old GM recorded an increase to Retained earnings of $137 million with a corresponding decrease to its liability for uncertain tax positions in accordance with ASC 740-10, “Income Taxes.”

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

General Motors Company was formed by the UST in 2009 originally as a Delaware limited liability company, Vehicle Acquisition Holdings LLC, and subsequently converted to a Delaware corporation, NGMCO, Inc. This company acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of General Motors Corporation in the 363 Sale on July 10, 2009 and changed its name to General Motors Company. General Motors Corporation is sometimes referred to in this prospectus, for the periods on or before July 9, 2009, as “Old GM.” Prior to July 10, 2009 Old GM operated the business of the Company, and pursuant to an agreement with the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as described in a no-action letter issued to Old GM by the SEC staff on July 9, 2009 regarding our filing requirements and those of MLC, the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements include the financial statements and related information of Old GM as it is our predecessor entity solely for accounting and financial reporting purposes. On July 10, 2009 in connection with the 363 Sale, General Motors Corporation changed its name to Motors Liquidation Corporation (MLC). MLC continues to exist as a distinct legal entity for the sole purpose of liquidating its remaining assets and liabilities.

Overview

Our Company

We are a leading global automotive company. Our vision is to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles. We seek to distinguish our vehicles through superior design, quality, reliability, telematics (wireless voice and data) and infotainment and safety within their respective vehicle segments. Our business is diversified across products and geographic markets, with operations and sales in over 120 countries. We assemble our passenger cars, crossover vehicles, light trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans and other vehicles in 71 assembly facilities worldwide and have 88 additional global manufacturing facilities. With a global network of over 21,000 independent dealers we meet the local sales and service needs of our retail and fleet customers. In 2009, we and Old GM sold 7.5 million vehicles, representing 11.6% of total vehicle sales worldwide. Approximately 72% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume was generated outside the United States, including 38.7% from emerging markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (collectively BRIC), which have recently experienced the industry’s highest volume growth.

Our business is organized into three geographically-based segments:

 

   

General Motors North America (GMNA), with manufacturing and distribution operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and distribution operations in Central America and the Caribbean, represented 33.2% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume. In North America, we sell our vehicles through four brands – Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac – which are manufactured at plants across the U.S., Canada and Mexico and imported from other GM regions. In 2009, GMNA had the largest market share of any competitor in this market at 19.0% based on vehicle sales volume.

 

   

General Motors International Operations (GMIO), with manufacturing and distribution operations in Asia-Pacific, South America, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, is our largest segment by vehicle sales volume, and represented 44.5% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume including sales through our joint ventures. In these regions, we sell our vehicles under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, FAW, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel and Wuling brands, and we plan to commence sales under the Baojun brand in 2011. In 2009, GMIO had the second largest market share for this market at 10.2% based on vehicle sales volume and the number one market share across the BRIC markets based on vehicle sales volume. Approximately 54.9% of GMIO’s volume is from China, where, primarily through our joint ventures, we had the number one market share at 13.3% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009. Our Chinese operations are primarily comprised of three joint ventures: Shanghai General Motors Co., Ltd.

 

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(SGM; of which we own 49%), SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. (SGMW; of which we own 34%) and FAW-GM Light Duty Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. (FAW-GM; of which we own 50%).

 

   

General Motors Europe (GME), with manufacturing and distribution operations across Western and Central Europe, represented 22.3% of our and Old GM’s total 2009 vehicle sales volume. In Western and Central Europe, we sell our vehicles under the Opel and Vauxhall (U.K. only) brands, which are manufactured in Europe, and under the Chevrolet brand, which is imported from South Korea where it is manufactured by GM Daewoo Auto & Technology, Inc. (GM Daewoo) of which we own 70.1%. In 2009, GME had the number five market share in this market, at 8.9% based on vehicle sales volume.

We offer a global vehicle portfolio of cars, crossovers and trucks. We are committed to leadership in vehicle design, quality, reliability, telematics and infotainment and safety, as well as to developing key energy efficiency, energy diversity and advanced propulsion technologies, including electric vehicles with range extending capabilities such as the new Chevrolet Volt.

Our company commenced operations on July 10, 2009 when we completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and assumption of certain liabilities of Old GM through a 363 Sale under the Bankruptcy Code. Immediately prior to this offering, our common stock was held of record by four stockholders: the UST, Canada Holdings, the New VEBA and MLC. As a result of the 363 Sale and other recent restructuring and cost savings initiatives, we have improved our financial position and level of operational flexibility as compared to Old GM when it operated the business. We commenced operations upon completion of the 363 Sale with a total amount of debt and other liabilities at July 10, 2009 that was $92.7 billion less than Old GM’s total amount of debt and other liabilities at July 9, 2009. We reached a competitive labor agreement with our unions, began restructuring our dealer network and reduced and refocused our brand strategy in the U.S. to our four brands. Although our U.S. and non-U.S. pension plans were underfunded by $17.1 billion and $10.3 billion on a U.S. GAAP basis at December 31, 2009, we have a strong balance sheet, with available liquidity (cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities) of $33.5 billion and an outstanding debt balance of $8.6 billion at September 30, 2010. On October 26, 2010, we repaid $2.8 billion of our then outstanding debt (together with accreted interest thereon) utilizing available liquidity and entered into a new five year, $5.0 billion secured revolving credit facility.

In recent quarters, we achieved profitability. Our results for the three months ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2010 included net income of $1.2 billion, $1.6 billion and $2.2 billion. For the period from July 10, 2009 to December 31, 2009, we had a net loss of $3.8 billion, which included a settlement loss of $2.6 billion related to the 2009 revised UAW settlement agreement. We reported revenue of $31.5 billion, $33.2 billion, and $34.1 billion in the three months ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2010, representing 40.3%, 43.9% and 27.2% year-over-year increases as compared to Old GM’s revenue for the three months ended March 31 and June 30, 2009 and GM and Old GM’s combined revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2009. For the period from July 10, 2009 to December 31, 2009, our revenue was $57.5 billion.

Our Industry and Market Opportunity

The global automotive industry sold 66 million new vehicles in 2009. Vehicle sales are widely distributed across the world in developed and emerging markets. We believe that total vehicle sales in emerging markets (Asia, excluding Japan, South America and Eastern Europe) will equal or exceed those in mature markets (North America, Western Europe and Japan) starting in 2010, as rising income levels drive secular growth. We believe that this expected growth in emerging markets, combined with an estimated recovery in mature markets, creates a potential growth opportunity for the global automotive industry.

North America

In 2009, 12.9 million total vehicles were sold in North America. The U.S. is the largest market within North America and experienced substantial declines in 2008 and 2009 with total vehicle sales decreasing from a peak of 17.4 million in 2005 to 10.6 million in 2009. In recent years, shifting consumer preferences and increased fuel

 

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economy and emissions regulatory requirements have resulted in cars and crossovers with greater fuel efficiency becoming an increasing proportion of the U.S. vehicle market, a trend we expect to continue. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with the largest vehicle sales volume in the U.S. include GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler.

Industry fundamentals have improved in North America as a result of operational and cost restructuring among the largest automotive OEMs throughout 2008 and 2009. Since the beginning of 2008, excess capacity has been reduced across the industry and in recent months average transaction prices have improved, dealer inventories have declined, and used vehicle prices have increased. We believe that as the recent global recession subsides and consumer confidence increases, pent-up consumer demand will drive new vehicle sales.

Western Europe

Total vehicle sales in Western Europe decreased from 16.8 million in 2005 to 15.1 million in 2009, showing only a brief recovery in the second half of 2009 due to local scrappage programs in Germany, the United Kingdom and other Western European countries. Given traditionally strong environmental awareness and relatively high gasoline prices in many countries around Western Europe, consumers across the region tend to prefer smaller, more fuel efficient cars. The OEMs with the largest vehicle sales volume in Western Europe include GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Daimler, Peugeot, Renault and Fiat. The overall market environment in Western Europe continues to show limited near-term growth.

Rest of World

In 2009, 37.9 million total vehicles were sold in the rest of the world, representing 58% of global vehicle sales, which encompasses a diverse group of countries including emerging markets such as the BRIC countries as well as more developed markets such as Japan, South Korea and Australia. Consumer preferences vary widely among countries, ranging from small, basic cars to larger cars and trucks. Projected sales growth within this group of countries is concentrated in emerging markets, where continued strong economic growth is leading to rising income levels and increasing consumer demand for personal vehicles. The OEMs with the largest vehicle sales volume in these international markets include GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and smaller OEMs within regional markets.

Global Automotive Industry Characteristics and Largest OEMs

Designing, manufacturing and selling vehicles is capital intensive. It requires substantial investments in manufacturing, machinery, research and development, product design, engineering, technology and marketing in order to meet both consumer preferences and regulatory requirements. Large OEMs are able to benefit from economies of scale by leveraging their investments and activities on a global basis across brands and nameplates (commonly referred to as models). The automotive industry is also cyclical and tends to track changes in the general economic environment. OEMs that have a diversified revenue base across geographies and products and have access to capital are well positioned to withstand industry downturns and to capitalize on industry growth. The largest automotive OEMs are GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Ford, all of which operate on a global basis and produce cars and trucks across a broad range of vehicle segments.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the following strengths provide us with a foundation for profitability, growth and execution on our strategic vision to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles:

 

   

Global presence, scale and dealer network. We are currently the world’s second largest automaker based on vehicle sales volume and, as a result of our relative market positions in GMNA and GMIO, are positioned to benefit from future growth resulting from economic recovery in developed markets

 

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and continued secular growth in emerging markets. In 2009, we and Old GM sold 7.5 million vehicles in over 120 countries and generated $104.6 billion in revenue, although our and Old GM’s combined worldwide market share of 11.6% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009 had declined from Old GM’s worldwide market share of 13.2% based on vehicle sales volume in 2007. We operate a global distribution network with over 21,000 independent dealers, and we maintain 10 design centers, 30 engineering centers, and eight science labs around the world. Our presence and scale enable us to deploy our purchasing, research and development, design, engineering, marketing and distribution resources and capabilities globally across our vehicle production base. For example, we expect to spend approximately $12.0 billion for engineering and capital expenditures in 2010, which will fund the development and production of our products globally.

 

   

Market share in emerging markets, such as China and Brazil. Across the BRIC markets, we and Old GM had the industry-leading market share of 12.7% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009, which has grown from a 9.8% share in 2004. In China, the fastest growing global market by volume of vehicles sold, through our joint ventures we and Old GM had the number one market position with a share of 13.3% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009. We and Old GM also held the third largest market share in Brazil at 19.0% based on vehicle sales volume in 2009. We established a presence in Brazil in 1925 and in China in 1997 and have substantial operating experience in these markets.

 

   

Portfolio of high-quality vehicles. Our global portfolio includes vehicles in most key segments, with 31 nameplates in the U.S. and another 140 nameplates internationally. Our and Old GM’s long-term investment over the last decade in our product portfolio has resulted in successful recent vehicle launches such as the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX. Sales of these vehicles have had higher transaction prices than the products they replaced and have increased vehicle segment market shares. These vehicles also have had higher residual values. The design, quality, reliability and safety of our vehicles has been recognized worldwide by a number of third parties, including the following:

 

   

In the U.S., we have three of the top five most dependable models in the industry according to the 2010 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study as well as leading the industry with the most segment leading models in both the 2010 J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey and the 2010 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study;

 

   

Eleven U.S. 2011 model year vehicles earned Consumers Digest “Best Buy” recognition;

 

   

In Europe, the Car of the Year Organizing Committee named the Opel Insignia the 2009 European Car of the Year;

 

   

In China, the Chinese Automotive Media Association named the new Buick LaCrosse the 2009 Car of the Year; and

 

   

In Brazil, AutoEsporte Magazine named the Chevrolet Agile the 2010 Car of the Year.

 

   

Commitment to new technologies. We have invested in a diverse set of new technologies designed to meet customer needs around the world. Our research and product development efforts in the areas of energy efficiency and energy diversity have been focused on advanced and alternative propulsion and fuel efficiency. For example, the Chevrolet Volt will use lithium-ion battery technology for a typical range of 25-50 miles depending on terrain, driving technique, temperature and battery age, after which the onboard engine’s power is seamlessly inverted to provide an additional 300 miles of electric driving range on a full tank of gas prior to refueling. Our investment in telematics and infotainment technology enables us to provide through OnStar a service offering that creates a connection to the customer and a platform for future infotainment initiatives.

 

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Competitive cost structure in GMNA. We have substantially completed the restructuring of our North American operations, which has reduced our cost base and improved our capacity utilization and product line profitability. We accomplished this through brand rationalization, ongoing dealer network optimization, salaried and hourly headcount reductions, labor agreement restructuring, transfer of hourly retiree healthcare obligations to the New VEBA and manufacturing footprint reduction from 71 North American manufacturing facilities for Old GM at December 31, 2008 to 57 at September 30, 2010, and an expected 54 at December 31, 2010. The reduced costs resulting from these actions, along with our improved price realization and lower incentives, have reduced our profitability breakeven point in North America. The breakeven point is a critical metric that provides an indication of GMNA’s cost structure and operating leverage. For the three months ended September 30, 2010 and based on GMNA’s current market share, GMNA’s earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) (EBIT is not an operating measure under U.S. GAAP—refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “—Reconciliation of Segment Results” for additional discussion) would have achieved breakeven at an implied annual U.S. industry sales of approximately 10.5 to 11.0 million vehicles.

 

   

Competitive global cost structure. Global architectures (that is, vehicle characteristics and dimensions supporting common sets of major vehicle underbody components and subsystems) allow us to streamline our product development and manufacturing processes, which has resulted in reduced material and engineering costs. We have consolidated our product development activities under one global development leadership team with a centralized budget. This allows us to design and engineer our vehicles globally while balancing cost efficient production locations and proximity to the end customer. Approximately 43% of our vehicles are manufactured in regions we believe to be low-cost manufacturing locations, such as China, Mexico, Eastern Europe, India and Russia, with all-in active labor costs of less than $15 per hour, and approximately 17% are manufactured in medium-cost countries, such as South Korea and Brazil, with all-in labor costs between $15 and $30 per hour.

 

   

Strong balance sheet and liquidity. As of September 30, 2010, we had available liquidity (cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities) of $33.5 billion and outstanding debt of $8.6 billion. On October 26, 2010, we repaid $2.8 billion of our then outstanding debt (together with accreted interest thereon) utilizing available liquidity and entered into a new five year, $5.0 billion secured revolving credit facility. In addition, we have no significant contractual debt maturities until 2015. Although our U.S. and non-U.S. pension plans were underfunded by $17.1 billion and $10.3 billion on a U.S. GAAP basis at December 31, 2009, a hypothetical valuation as of September 30, 2010 projects total contributions of $0.6 billion to U.S. pension plans through 2013. (Refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations— Contractual Obligations and Other Long-Term Liabilities.”) We believe that our combination of cash and cash equivalents, cash flow from operations and availability under our new secured revolving credit facility should provide sufficient cash to fund our new product and technology development efforts, European restructuring program, growth initiatives and further cost-reduction initiatives in the medium term.

 

   

Strong leadership team with focused direction. Our new executive management team, which includes our new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer from outside the automotive industry as well as many senior officers who have been promoted to new roles from within the organization, combines years of experience at GM and new perspectives on growth, innovation and strategy deployment. Our management team operates in a streamlined organizational structure that allows for:

 

   

More direct lines of communication;

 

   

Quicker decision-making; and

 

   

Direct responsibility for individuals in various areas of our business.

 

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As an example, we have eliminated multiple internal strategy boards and committees and instituted a single, smaller executive committee to focus our management functions and shorten our decision- making processes. The members of our Board of Directors, a majority of whom were not directors of Old GM, are directly involved in strategy formation and review.

Our Strategy

Our vision is to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles. The primary elements of our strategy to achieve this vision are to:

 

   

Deliver a product portfolio of the world’s best vehicles, allowing us to maximize sales under any market conditions;

 

   

Sell our vehicles globally by targeting developed markets, which are projected to have increases in vehicle demand as the global economy recovers, and further strengthening our position in high growth emerging markets;

 

   

Improve revenue realization and maintain a competitive cost structure to allow us to remain profitable at lower industry volumes and across the lifecycle of our product portfolio; and

 

   

Maintain a strong balance sheet by reducing financial leverage given the high operating leverage of our business model.

Our management team is focused on hiring new and promoting current talented employees who can bring new perspectives to our business in order to execute on our strategy as follows:

Deliver quality products. We intend to maintain a broad portfolio of vehicles so that we are positioned to meet global consumer preferences. We plan to do this in several ways.

 

   

Concentrate our design, engineering and marketing resources on fewer brands and architectures. We plan to increase the volume of vehicles produced from common global architectures to more than 50% of our total volumes in 2014 from less than 17% today. We expect that this initiative will result in greater investment per architecture and brand and will increase our product development and manufacturing flexibility, allowing us to maintain a steady schedule of important new product launches in the future. We believe our four-brand strategy in the U.S. will continue to enable us to allocate higher marketing expenditures per brand.

 

   

Develop products across vehicle segments in our global markets. We plan to develop vehicles in each of the key segments of the global markets in which we compete. For example, in September 2010 we introduced the Chevrolet Cruze in the U.S. small car segment, an important and growing segment where we have historically been under-represented.

 

   

Continued investment in a portfolio of technologies. We will continue to invest in technologies that support energy diversity and energy efficiency as well as in safety, telematics and infotainment technology. We are committed to advanced propulsion technologies and intend to offer a portfolio of fuel efficient alternatives that use energy sources such as petroleum, bio-fuels, hydrogen and electricity, including the new Chevrolet Volt. We are committed to increasing the fuel efficiency of our vehicles with internal combustion engines through features such as cylinder deactivation, direct injection, variable valve timing, turbo-charging with engine downsizing and six speed transmissions. For example, we expect the Chevrolet Cruze Eco to be capable of achieving an estimated 40 miles per gallon on the highway with a traditional internal combustion engine. Additionally, we are expanding our telematics and infotainment offerings and, as a result of our OnStar service and our partnerships with companies such as Google, are in a position to deliver safety, security, navigation and connectivity systems and features.

 

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Sell our vehicles globally. We will continue to compete in the largest and fastest growing markets globally.

 

   

Broaden GMNA product portfolio. We plan to launch 19 new vehicles in GMNA across our four brands between 2010 and 2012, primarily in the growing car and crossover segments, where, in some cases, we are under-represented, and an additional 28 new vehicles between 2013 and 2014. These near-term launches include the new Chevrolet Volt, Cruze, Spark, Aveo and Malibu and Buick entries in the compact and mid-size segments. We believe that we have achieved a more balanced portfolio in the U.S. market, where we and Old GM maintained a sales volume mix of 42% from cars, 37% from trucks and 21% from crossovers in 2009 compared to 51% from trucks in 2006.

 

   

Increase sales in GMIO, particularly China and Brazil. We plan to continue to execute our growth strategies in countries where we already hold strong positions, such as China and Brazil, and to improve share in other important markets, including South Korea, South Africa, Russia, India and the ASEAN region. We aim to launch 84 new vehicles throughout GMIO through 2012. We plan to enhance and strengthen our GMIO product portfolio through three strategies: leveraging our global architectures, pursuing local and regional solutions to meet specific market requirements and expanding our joint venture partner collaboration opportunities.

 

   

Refresh GME’s vehicle portfolio. To improve our product quality and product perception in Europe, by the start of 2012, we plan to have 80% of our Opel/Vauxhall carlines volume refreshed such that the model stylings are less than three years old. We have three product launches scheduled in 2010 and another four product launches scheduled in 2011. As part of our planned rejuvenation of Chevrolet’s portfolio, which increasingly supplements our Opel/Vauxhall brands throughout Europe, we are moving the entire Chevrolet lineup to the new GM global architectures.

 

   

Ensure competitive financing is available to our dealers and customers. We currently maintain multiple financing programs and arrangements with third parties for our wholesale and retail customers to utilize when purchasing or leasing our vehicles. Through our long-standing arrangements with Ally Financial, Inc., formerly GMAC, Inc. (Ally Financial), and a variety of other worldwide, regional and local lenders, we provide our customers and dealers with access to financing alternatives. We plan to further expand the range of financing options available to our customers and dealers to help grow our vehicle sales. In particular, on October 1, 2010 we acquired AmeriCredit, which we subsequently renamed GM Financial and which we expect will enable us to offer increased availability of leasing and sub-prime financing for our customers throughout economic cycles. We also plan to use GM Financial to initiate targeted customer marketing initiatives to expand our vehicle sales.

Reduce breakeven levels through improved revenue realization and a competitive cost structure. In developed markets, we are improving our cost structure to become profitable at lower industry volumes.

 

   

Capitalize on cost structure improvement and maintain reduced incentive levels in GMNA. We plan to sustain the cost reduction and operating flexibility progress we have made as a result of our North American restructuring. In addition to becoming more cost competitive, our current U.S. and Canadian hourly labor agreements provide the flexibility to utilize a lower tiered wage and benefit structure for new hires, part-time employees and temporary employees. We aim to increase our vehicle profitability by maintaining competitive incentive levels with our strengthened product portfolio and by actively managing our production levels through monitoring of our dealer inventory levels.

 

   

Execute on our Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan. We expect our Opel/Vauxhall restructuring plan to lower our vehicle manufacturing costs. The plan includes manufacturing rationalization, headcount reduction, labor cost concessions from the remaining workforce and selling, general and administrative efficiency initiatives. Specifically, we have reached an agreement to reduce our European manufacturing capacity by 20% through, among other things, the closing of our Antwerp facility in

 

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Belgium and the rationalization of our powertrain operations in our Bochum and Kaiserslautern facilities in Germany. Additionally, we have reached an agreement with the labor unions in Europe to reduce labor costs by $323 million per year. The objective of our restructuring, along with the refreshed product portfolio pipeline, is to restore the profitability of the GME business.

 

   

Enhance manufacturing flexibility. We primarily produce vehicles in locations where we sell them and we have significant manufacturing capacity in medium- and low-cost countries. We intend to maximize capacity utilization across our production footprint to meet demand without requiring significant additional capital investment. For example, we were able to leverage the benefit of a global architecture and start initial production for the U.S. of the Buick Regal 11 months ahead of schedule by temporarily shifting production from North America to Rüsselsheim, Germany.

Maintain a strong balance sheet. Given our business’s high operating leverage and the cyclical nature of our industry, we intend to minimize our financial leverage. We plan to use excess cash to repay debt and to make discretionary contributions to our U.S. pension plan. Based on this planned reduction in financial leverage and the anticipated benefits resulting from our operating strategy described above, we will aim to attain an investment grade credit rating over the long term.

Projected Fourth Quarter Results

With respect to the projected fourth quarter results for 2010, our independent registered public accounting firm has not compiled, examined, or performed any procedures with respect to this information, nor have they expressed any opinion or any other form of assurance on such information or its achievability, and assume no responsibility for, and disclaim any association with, it.

We expect to generate positive EBIT in the fourth quarter of 2010, albeit at a significantly lower level than that of each of the first three quarters, due to the fourth quarter having a different production mix, new vehicles launch costs (in particular the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt) and higher engineering expenses for future products.

As the fourth quarter of 2010 is still in progress, any forecast of our operating results is inherently speculative, is subject to substantial uncertainty, and our actual results may differ materially from management’s views. Refer to the section of the prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” for a discussion of risks that could affect our future operating results. Our views for the fourth quarter rely in large part upon assumptions and analyses we have developed.

As a result of the foregoing considerations and the other limitations of non-GAAP measures described elsewhere in this prospectus, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forecasted financial information. There are material limitations inherent in stating our views of our results for future periods. Refer to the sections of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors,” “Forward-Looking Statements,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Summary Historical Consolidated Financial Data,” “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data” and our audited consolidated financial statements and our unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

Presentation and Estimates

Basis of Presentation

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) should be read in conjunction with the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

We analyze the results of our business through our three segments, namely GMNA, GMIO and GME.

 

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In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 we changed our managerial reporting structure so that certain entities geographically located within Russia and Uzbekistan were transferred from our GME segment to our GMIO segment. We have revised the segment presentation for all periods presented.

Consistent with industry practice, market share information includes estimates of industry sales in certain countries where public reporting is not legally required or otherwise available on a consistent basis.

On October 5, 2010 our Board of Directors recommended a three-for-one stock split on shares of our common stock, which was approved by our stockholders on November 1, 2010. The stock split was effected on November 1, 2010.

Each stockholder’s percentage ownership in us and proportional voting power remained unchanged after the stock split. All applicable share, per share and related information for periods on or subsequent to July 10, 2009 has been adjusted retroactively to give effect to the three-for-one stock split.

On October 5, 2010, our Board of Directors recommended that we amend our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of shares of common stock that we are authorized to issue from 2,500,000,000 shares to 5,000,000,000 shares and to increase the number of preferred shares that we are authorized to issue from 1,000,000,000 shares to 2,000,000,000 shares. Our stockholders approved these amendments on November 1, 2010, and they were effected on November 1, 2010.

Use of Estimates in the Preparation of the Financial Statements

The audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements are prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP, which requires the use of estimates, judgments, and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of our audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses in the periods presented. We believe that the accounting estimates employed are appropriate and the resulting balances are reasonable; however, due to the inherent uncertainties in making estimates, actual results could differ from the original estimates, requiring adjustments to these balances in future periods.

Chapter 11 Proceedings and the 363 Sale

Background

Over time as Old GM’s market share declined in North America, Old GM needed to continually restructure its business operations to reduce cost and excess capacity. In addition, legacy labor costs and obligations and capacity in its dealer network made Old GM less competitive than new entrants into the U.S. market. These factors continued to strain Old GM’s liquidity. In 2005 Old GM incurred significant losses from operations and from restructuring activities such as providing support to Delphi and other efforts intended to reduce operating costs. Old GM managed its liquidity during this time through a series of cost reduction initiatives, capital markets transactions and sales of assets. However, the global credit market crisis had a dramatic effect on Old GM and the automotive industry. In the second half of 2008, the increased turmoil in the mortgage and overall credit markets (particularly the lack of financing for buyers or lessees of vehicles), the continued reductions in U.S. housing values, the volatility in the price of oil, recessions in the United States and Western Europe and the slowdown of economic growth in the rest of the world created a substantially more difficult business environment. The ability to execute capital markets transactions or sales of assets was extremely limited, vehicle sales in North America and Western Europe contracted severely, and the pace of vehicle sales in the rest of the world slowed. Old GM’s liquidity position, as well as its operating performance, were negatively affected by these economic and industry conditions and by other financial and business factors, many of which were beyond its control.

As a result of these economic conditions and the rapid decline in sales in the three months ended December 31, 2008 Old GM determined that, despite the actions it had then taken to restructure its U.S. business,

 

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it would be unable to pay its obligations in the normal course of business in 2009 or service its debt in a timely fashion, which required the development of a new plan that depended on financial assistance from the U.S. government.

In December 2008 Old GM requested and received financial assistance from the U.S. government and entered into the UST Loan Agreement. In early 2009 Old GM’s business results and liquidity continued to deteriorate, and, as a result, Old GM obtained additional funding from the UST under the UST Loan Agreement. Old GM, through its wholly-owned subsidiary GMCL, also received funding from EDC, a corporation wholly-owned by the Government of Canada, under a loan and security agreement entered into in April 2009 (EDC Loan Facility).

As a condition to obtaining the UST Loan Facility under the UST Loan Agreement, Old GM was required to submit a Viability Plan in February 2009 that included specific actions intended to result in the following:

 

   

Repayment of all loans, interest and expenses under the UST Loan Agreement, and all other funding provided by the U.S. government;

 

   

Compliance with federal fuel efficiency and emissions requirements and commencement of domestic manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles;

 

   

Achievement of a positive net present value, using reasonable assumptions and taking into account all existing and projected future costs;

 

   

Rationalization of costs, capitalization and capacity with respect to its manufacturing workforce, suppliers and dealerships; and

 

   

A product mix and cost structure that is competitive in the U.S. marketplace.

The UST Loan Agreement also required Old GM to, among other things, use its best efforts to achieve the following restructuring targets:

Debt Reduction

 

   

Reduction of its outstanding unsecured public debt by not less than two-thirds through conversion of existing unsecured public debt into equity, debt and/or cash or by other appropriate means.

Labor Modifications

 

   

Reduction of the total amount of compensation paid to its U.S. employees so that, by no later than December 31, 2009, the average of such total amount is competitive with the average total amount of such compensation paid to U.S. employees of certain foreign-owned, U.S. domiciled automakers (transplant automakers);

 

   

Elimination of the payment of any compensation or benefits to U.S. employees who have been fired, laid-off, furloughed or idled, other than customary severance pay; and

 

   

Application of work rules for U.S. employees in a manner that is competitive with the work rules for employees of transplant automakers.

VEBA Modifications

 

   

Modification of its retiree healthcare obligations arising under the 2008 UAW Settlement Agreement under which responsibility for providing healthcare for UAW retirees, their spouses and dependents would permanently shift from Old GM to the New Plan funded by the New VEBA, such that payment or contribution of not less than one-half of the value of each future payment was to be made in the form of Old GM common stock, subject to certain limitations.

 

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The UST Loan Agreement provided that if, by March 31, 2009 or a later date (not to exceed 30 days after March 31, 2009) as determined by the Auto Task Force (Certification Deadline), the Auto Task Force had not certified that Old GM had taken all steps necessary to achieve and sustain its long-term viability, international competitiveness and energy efficiency in accordance with the Viability Plan, then the loans and other obligations under the UST Loan Agreement were to become due and payable on the thirtieth day after the Certification Deadline.

On March 30, 2009 the Auto Task Force determined that the plan was not viable and required substantial revisions. In conjunction with the March 30, 2009 announcement, the administration announced that it would offer Old GM adequate working capital financing for a period of 60 days while it worked with Old GM to develop and implement a more accelerated and aggressive restructuring that would provide a sound long-term foundation. On March 31, 2009 Old GM and the UST agreed to postpone the Certification Deadline to June 1, 2009.

Old GM made further modifications to its Viability Plan in an attempt to satisfy the Auto Task Force’s requirement that it undertake a substantially more accelerated and aggressive restructuring plan (Revised Viability Plan). The following is a summary of significant cost reduction and restructuring actions contemplated by the Revised Viability Plan, the most significant of which included reducing Old GM’s indebtedness and VEBA obligations:

Indebtedness and VEBA obligations

In April 2009 Old GM commenced exchange offers for certain unsecured notes to reduce its unsecured debt in order to comply with the debt reduction condition of the UST Loan Agreement.

Old GM also commenced discussions with the UST regarding the terms of a potential restructuring of its debt obligations under the UST Loan Agreement, the UST Ally Financial Loan Agreement (as subsequently defined), and any other debt issued or owed to the UST in connection with those loan agreements pursuant to which the UST would exchange at least 50% of the total outstanding debt Old GM owed to it at June 1, 2009 for Old GM common stock.

In addition, Old GM commenced discussions with the UAW and the VEBA-settlement class representative regarding the terms of potential VEBA modifications.

Other cost reduction and restructuring actions

In addition to the efforts to reduce debt and modify the VEBA obligations, the Revised Viability Plan also contemplated the following cost reduction efforts, some of which are ongoing:

 

   

Extended shutdowns of certain North American manufacturing facilities in order to reduce dealer inventory;

 

   

Continued refocus of resources on four U.S. brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC;

 

   

Acceleration of the resolution for Saab, HUMMER and Saturn and no planned future investment for Pontiac, which is to be phased out by the end of 2010;

 

   

Acceleration of the reduction in U.S. nameplates to 34 by 2010—there are currently 31 nameplates;

 

   

A reduction in the number of U.S. dealers was targeted from 6,246 in 2008 to 3,605 in 2010—we have completed the federal dealer arbitration process and are on track to reduce the number of U.S. dealers to 4,500 by the end of 2010;

 

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A reduction in the total number of plants in the U.S. to 34 by the end of 2010 and 31 by 2012; and

 

   

A reduction in the U.S. hourly employment levels from 61,000 in 2008 to 40,000 in 2010 as a result of the nameplate reductions, operational efficiencies and plant capacity reductions.

Old GM had previously announced that it would reduce salaried employment levels on a global basis by 10,000 during 2009 and had instituted several programs to effect reductions in salaried employment levels. Old GM had also negotiated a revised labor agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) to reduce its hourly labor costs to approximately the level paid to the transplant automakers; however, such agreement was contingent upon receiving longer term financial support for its Canadian operations from the Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments.

Chapter 11 Proceedings

Old GM was not able to complete the cost reduction and restructuring actions in its Revised Viability Plan, including the debt reductions and VEBA modifications, which resulted in extreme liquidity constraints. As a result, on June 1, 2009 Old GM and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries entered into the Chapter 11 Proceedings.

In connection with the Chapter 11 Proceedings, Old GM entered into a secured superpriority debtor-in-possession credit agreement with the UST and EDC (DIP Facility) and received additional funding commitments from EDC to support Old GM’s Canadian operations.

The following table summarizes the total funding and funding commitments Old GM received from the U.S. and Canadian governments and the additional notes Old GM issued related thereto in the period December 31, 2008 through July 9, 2009 (dollars in millions):

 

Description of Funding Commitment

   Funding and  Funding
Commitments
     Additional
Notes  Issued(a)
     Total Obligation  

UST Loan Agreement (b)

   $ 19,761       $ 1,172       $ 20,933   

EDC funding (c)

     6,294         161         6,455   

DIP Facility

     33,300         2,221         35,521   
                          

Total

   $ 59,355       $ 3,554       $ 62,909   
                          

 

(a) Old GM did not receive any proceeds from the issuance of these promissory notes, which were issued as additional compensation to the UST and EDC.

 

(b) Includes debt of $361 million, which UST loaned to Old GM under the warranty program.

 

(c) Includes approximately $2.4 billion from the EDC Loan Facility received in the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 and funding commitments of CAD $4.5 billion (equivalent to $3.9 billion when entered into) that were immediately converted into our equity. This funding was received on July 15, 2009.

363 Sale Transaction

On July 10, 2009, we completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of Old GM and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries (collectively, the Sellers). The 363 Sale was consummated in accordance with the Amended and Restated Master Sale and Purchase Agreement, dated June 26, 2009, as amended (Purchase Agreement), between us and the Sellers, and pursuant to the Bankruptcy Court’s sale order dated July 5, 2009.

 

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In connection with the 363 Sale, the purchase price we paid to Old GM equaled the sum of:

 

   

A credit bid in an amount equal to the total of: (1) debt of $19.8 billion under Old GM’s UST Loan Agreement, plus notes of $1.2 billion issued as additional compensation for the UST Loan Agreement, plus interest on such debt Old GM owed as of the closing date of the 363 Sale; and (2) debt of $33.3 billion under Old GM’s DIP Facility, plus notes of $2.2 billion issued as additional compensation for the DIP Facility, plus interest Old GM owed as of the closing date, less debt of $8.2 billion owed under the DIP Facility;

 

   

UST’s return of the warrants Old GM previously issued to it;

 

   

The issuance to MLC of 150 million shares (or 10%) of our common stock and warrants to acquire newly issued shares of our common stock initially exercisable for a total of 273 million shares of our common stock (or 15% on a fully diluted basis); and

 

   

Our assumption of certain specified liabilities of Old GM (including debt of $7.1 billion owed under the DIP Facility).

Under the Purchase Agreement, as supplemented by a letter agreement we entered into in connection with our October 2009 holding company merger, we are obligated to issue additional shares of our common stock to MLC (Adjustment Shares) in the event that allowed general unsecured claims against MLC, as estimated by the Bankruptcy Court, exceed $35.0 billion. The maximum number of Adjustment Shares issuable is 30 million shares (subject to adjustment to take into account stock dividends, stock splits and other transactions). The number of Adjustment Shares to be issued is calculated based on the extent to which estimated general unsecured claims exceed $35.0 billion with the maximum number of Adjustment Shares issued if estimated general unsecured claims total $42.0 billion or more. We currently believe that it is probable that general unsecured claims allowed against MLC will ultimately exceed $35.0 billion by at least $2.0 billion. In the circumstance where estimated general unsecured claims equal $37.0 billion, we would be required to issue 8.6 million Adjustment Shares to MLC as an adjustment to the purchase price under the terms of the Purchase Agreement. At September 30, 2010 we accrued $231 million in Accrued expenses related to this contingent obligation.

Agreements with the UST, EDC and New VEBA

On July 10, 2009, we entered into the UST Credit Agreement and assumed debt of $7.1 billion Old GM incurred under the DIP Facility (UST Loans). In addition, through our wholly-owned subsidiary GMCL, we entered into the Canadian Loan Agreement with EDC and assumed a CAD $1.5 billion (equivalent to $1.3 billion when entered into) term loan maturing on July 10, 2015 (Canadian Loan). Proceeds of the DIP Facility of $16.4 billion were deposited in escrow, to be distributed to us at our request if certain conditions were met and returned to us after the UST Loans and the Canadian Loan were repaid in full. Immediately after entering into the UST Credit Agreement, we made a partial pre-payment due to the termination of the U.S. government sponsored warranty program, reducing the UST Loans principal balance to $6.7 billion. We also entered into the VEBA Note Agreement and issued the VEBA Notes to the New VEBA in the principal amount of $2.5 billion pursuant to the VEBA Note Agreement.

In December 2009 and March 2010 we made quarterly payments of $1.0 billion and $1.0 billion on the UST Loans and quarterly payments of $192 million and $194 million on the Canadian Loan. In April 2010, we used funds from our escrow account to repay in full the outstanding amount of the UST Loans of $4.7 billion. In addition, GMCL repaid in full the outstanding amount of the Canadian Loan of $1.1 billion. Both loans were repaid prior to maturity. In addition, on October 26, 2010 we repaid in full the outstanding amount (together with accreted interest thereon) of the VEBA Notes of $2.8 billion.

Refer to Note 18 to our audited consolidated financial statements and Note 13 and Note 27 to our unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for additional information on the UST Loans, VEBA Notes and the Canadian Loan.

 

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Issuance of Common Stock, Preferred Stock and Warrants

On July 10, 2009 we issued the following securities to the UST, Canada Holdings, the New VEBA and MLC:

UST

 

  Ÿ  

912,394,068 shares of our common stock;

 

  Ÿ  

83,898,305 shares of Series A Preferred Stock;

Canada Holdings

 

  Ÿ  

175,105,932 shares of our common stock;

 

  Ÿ  

16,101,695 shares of Series A Preferred Stock;

New VEBA

 

  Ÿ  

262,500,000 shares of our common stock;

 

  Ÿ  

260,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock;

 

  Ÿ  

Warrant to acquire 45,454,545 shares of our common stock;

MLC

 

  Ÿ  

150,000,000 shares of our common stock; and

 

  Ÿ  

Two warrants, each to acquire 136,363,635 shares of our common stock.

Preferred Stock

The shares of Series A Preferred Stock have a liquidation amount of $25.00 per share and accrue cumulative dividends at a rate equal to 9.0% per annum (payable quarterly on March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15) if, as and when declared by our Board of Directors. So long as any share of the Series A Preferred Stock remains outstanding, no dividend or distribution may be declared or paid on our common stock unless all accrued and unpaid dividends have been paid on the Series A Preferred Stock, subject to exceptions, such as dividends on our common stock payable solely in shares of our common stock. On or after December 31, 2014, we may redeem, in whole or in part, the shares of Series A Preferred Stock at the time outstanding, at a redemption price per share equal to $25.00 per share plus any accrued and unpaid dividends, subject to limited exceptions.

The Series A Preferred Stock is classified as temporary equity because one of the holders, the UST, owns a significant percentage of our common stock and therefore has, and may continue to have, the ability to exert control, through its power to vote for the election of our directors, over various matters, which could include compelling us to redeem the Series A Preferred Stock in 2014 or later. We believe that it is not probable that the UST or the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, as a class, will continue to have this ability to elect our directors at December 31, 2014 considering the government’s stated intent with respect to its equity holdings in our company to dispose of its ownership interest as soon as practicable. Refer to Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements.

 

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The Series A Preferred Stock will remain classified as temporary equity until the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock no longer own a majority of our common stock and therefore no longer have the ability to exert control, through the power to vote for the election of our directors, over various matters, including compelling us to redeem the Series A Preferred Stock when it becomes callable by us on and after December 31, 2014. The reclassification of the Series A Preferred Stock to permanent equity would occur upon the earlier of (1) the holders of Series A Preferred Stock no longer owning a majority (greater than 50%) of our common stock; or (2) the UST no longer holding any Series A Preferred Stock, which would result in the remaining holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, as a class, owning less than 50% of our common stock. Upon the occurrence of either of these two events, the existing carrying amount of the Series A Preferred Stock would be reclassified to permanent equity.

Our Series A Preferred Stock is recorded at a discount of $2.0 billion. We are not accreting the Preferred Stock to its redemption amount of $9.0 billion because we believe it is not probable that the UST or the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, as a class, will continue to have this ability to elect a majority of our directors in 2014. If it becomes probable that the UST or the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, as a class, will continue to have this ability to elect a majority of our directors in 2014, then we would begin accreting to the redemption value from the date this condition becomes probable to December 31, 2014.

Regardless of whether we accrete the Series A Preferred Stock, upon a redemption or purchase of any or all Series A Preferred Stock, the difference, if any, between the recorded amount of the Series A Preferred Stock being redeemed or purchased and the consideration paid would be recorded as a charge to Net income attributable to common stockholders. If all of the Series A Preferred Stock were to be redeemed or purchased at its par value, the amount of the charge would be $2.0 billion.

We plan to purchase 83.9 million shares of Series A Preferred Stock held by the UST at a price equal to 102% of their $2.1 billion aggregate liquidation amount, conditional upon the completion of the common stock offering. We will record a $677 million charge to Net income attributable to common stockholders for the difference between the carrying amount of the Series A Preferred Stock held by the UST of $1.5 billion and the consideration paid of $2.1 billion.

Upon the purchase of the Series A Preferred Stock held by the UST, the Series A Preferred Stock held by Canada Holdings and the New VEBA will be reclassified to permanent equity at its current carrying amount of $5.5 billion as the remaining holders of our Series A Preferred Stock, Canada Holdings and the New VEBA, will no longer own a majority of our common stock and therefore will no longer have the ability to exert control, through the power to vote for the election of our directors, over various matters, including compelling us to redeem the Series A Preferred Stock when it becomes callable by us on or after December 31, 2014.

In the event that we reach an agreement in the future to purchase the shares of Series A Preferred Stock held by Canada Holdings and the New VEBA, we would record a $1.4 billion charge to Net income attributable to common stockholders related to the difference between the carrying amount of $5.5 billion and the face amount of $6.9 billion if purchased at a price equal to the liquidation amount of $25.00 per share. The charge to Net income attributable to common stockholders would be larger if the consideration paid for the remaining Series A Preferred Stock is in excess of the liquidation amount of $25.00 per share.

Warrants

The first tranche of warrants issued to MLC is exercisable at any time prior to July 10, 2016, with an exercise price of $10.00 per share. The second tranche of warrants issued to MLC is exercisable at any time prior to July 10, 2019, with an exercise price of $18.33 per share. The warrant issued to the New VEBA is exercisable at any time prior to December 31, 2015, with an exercise price of $42.31 per share. The number of shares of our common stock underlying each of the warrants issued to MLC and the New VEBA and the per share exercise price are subject to adjustment as a result of certain events, including stock splits, reverse stock splits and stock dividends.

 

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Additional Modifications to Pension and Other Postretirement Plans Contingent upon Completion of the 363 Sale

We also modified the U.S. hourly pension plan, the U.S. executive retirement plan, the U.S. salaried life plan, the non-UAW hourly retiree medical plan and the U.S. hourly life plan. These modifications became effective upon the completion of the 363 Sale. The key modifications were:

 

   

Elimination of the post-age-65 benefits and placing a cap on pre-age-65 benefits in the non-UAW hourly retiree medical plan;

 

   

Capping the life benefit for non-UAW retirees and future retirees at $10,000 in the U.S. hourly life plan;

 

   

Capping the life benefit for existing salaried retirees at $10,000, reduced the retiree benefit for future salaried retirees and eliminated the executive benefit for the U.S. salaried life plan;

 

   

Elimination of a portion of nonqualified benefits in the U.S. executive retirement plan; and

 

   

Elimination of the flat monthly special lifetime benefit of $66.70 that was to commence on January 1, 2010 for the U.S. hourly pension plan.

Accounting for the Effects of the Chapter 11 Proceedings and the 363 Sale

Chapter 11 Proceedings

Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 852, “Reorganizations,” (ASC 852) is applicable to entities operating under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. ASC 852 generally does not affect the application of U.S. GAAP that we and Old GM followed to prepare the audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements, but it does require specific disclosures for transactions and events that were directly related to the Chapter 11 Proceedings and transactions and events that resulted from ongoing operations.

Old GM prepared its consolidated financial statements in accordance with the guidance in ASC 852 in the period June 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009. Revenues, expenses, realized gains and losses, and provisions for losses directly related to the Chapter 11 Proceedings were recorded in Reorganization gains, net in the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009. Reorganization expenses, net and Reorganization gains, net do not constitute an element of operating loss due to their nature and due to the requirement of ASC 852 that they be reported separately. Old GM’s balance sheet prior to the 363 Sale distinguished prepetition liabilities subject to compromise from prepetition liabilities not subject to compromise and from postpetition liabilities.

We have not included pro forma financial information giving effect to the Chapter 11 Proceedings and the 363 Sale because the latest filed balance sheet, as well as the December 31, 2009 audited financial statements, include the effects of the 363 Sale. As such, we believe that further information would not be material to investors.

Specific Management Initiatives

The execution of certain management initiatives is critical to achieving our goal of sustained future profitability. The following provides a summary of these management initiatives and significant results and events.

 

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Streamline U.S. Operations

Increased Production Volume

We continue to consolidate our U.S. manufacturing operations while maintaining the flexibility to meet increasing 2010 production levels. At December 31, 2009 we had reduced the number of U.S. manufacturing plants to 41 from 47 in 2008, excluding Delphi’s global steering business (Nexteer) and four domestic facilities acquired from Delphi in October 2009.

The moderate improvement in the U.S. economy, resulting increase in U.S. industry vehicle sales and increase in demand for our products has resulted in increased production volumes for GMNA. In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 GMNA produced 2.1 million vehicles. This represents an increase of 62.2% compared to 1.3 million vehicles that combined GM and Old GM GMNA produced in the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

In the year ended 2009 combined GM and Old GM GMNA produced 1.9 million vehicles. This represents a decrease of 44.5% compared to 3.4 million vehicles in the year ended 2008. However, Old GM GMNA production levels increased from 371,000 vehicles in the three months ended March 31, 2009 to 395,000 vehicles (or 6.5%) in the three months ended June 30, 2009. Combined GM and Old GM GMNA production increased to 531,000 vehicles (or 34.4%) in the three months ended September 30, 2009 as compared to June 30, 2009 quarterly production levels. GMNA production increased to 616,000 vehicles (or 16.0%) in the three months ended December 31, 2009 as compared to September 30, 2009 quarterly production levels. The increase in production levels from the three months ended September 30, 2009 related to increased consumer demand for certain products such as the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX.

Improve Vehicle Sales

GMNA dealers in the U.S. sold 1.6 million vehicles in the nine months ended September 30, 2010. This represents an increase of 92,000 vehicles (or 5.9%) from our and Old GM’s U.S. vehicle sales in the nine months ended September 30, 2009. This increase reflects our brand rationalization strategy to focus our product engineering and design and marketing on four brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. This strategy has resulted in increased consumer demand for certain products such as the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX. These four brands accounted for 1.6 million vehicles (or 99.3%) of our U.S. vehicle sales in the nine months ended September 30, 2010. In addition, the moderate improvement in the U.S. economy has contributed to a slow but steady improvement in U.S. industry vehicle sales and increased consumer confidence.

The continued increase in U.S. industry vehicle sales and the vehicle sales of our four brands is critical for us to achieve our worldwide profitability.

U.S. Dealer Reduction

We market vehicles worldwide through a network of independent retail dealers and distributors. As part of achieving and sustaining long-term viability and the viability of our dealer network, we determined that a reduction in the number of U.S. dealerships was necessary. In determining which dealerships would remain in our network, we performed analyses of volumes and consumer satisfaction indexes, among other criteria. Wind-down agreements with over 1,800 U.S. retail dealers were executed. The retail dealers executing wind-down agreements agreed to terminate their dealer agreements with us prior to October 31, 2010. Our plan was to reduce dealerships in the United States to approximately 3,600 to 4,000 in the long-term. However, in December 2009 President Obama signed legislation giving dealers access to neutral arbitration should they decide to contest the wind-down of their dealership. Under the terms of the legislation, we informed dealers as to why their dealership received a wind-down agreement. In turn, dealers were given a timeframe to file for reinstatement through the American Arbitration Association. Under the law, decisions in these arbitration proceedings are binding and final. We sent letters to over 2,000 of our dealers explaining the reasons for their wind-down agreements and

 

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over 1,100 dealers have filed for arbitration. In response to the arbitration filings we offered certain dealers reinstatement contingent upon compliance with our core business criteria for operation of a dealership. At September 30, 2010 the arbitration process had been fundamentally resolved. At September 30, 2010 there were approximately 5,000 vehicle dealers in the U.S. compared to approximately 5,600 at December 31, 2009. We intend to reduce the total number of our U.S. dealers to approximately 4,500 by the end of 2010.

To create a strong and viable distribution network for our products, continuing dealers have signed participation agreements. These participation agreements include performance expectations in the areas of retail sales, new vehicle inventory and facility exclusivity.

Repayment of Debt and Purchase of Preferred Stock

Proceeds from the DIP Facility were necessary in order to provide sufficient capital for Old GM to operate pending the closing of the 363 Sale. In connection with the 363 Sale, we assumed the UST Loans and Canadian Loan, which Old GM incurred under the DIP Facility. One of our key priorities was to repay the outstanding balances from these loans prior to maturity. We also plan to use excess cash to repay debt and reduce our financial leverage.

Repayment of UST Loans and Canadian Loan

On July 10, 2009 we entered into the UST Credit Agreement and assumed the UST Loans in the amount of $7.1 billion incurred by Old GM under its DIP Facility. Immediately after entering into the UST Credit Agreement, we made a partial pre-payment, reducing the UST Loans principal balance to $6.7 billion. On July 10, 2009 through our wholly-owned subsidiary GMCL, we also entered into the amended and restated Canadian Loan Agreement with EDC, and assumed the CAD $1.5 billion (equivalent to $1.3 billion when entered into) Canadian Loan.

In November 2009 we signed amendments to the UST Credit Agreement and Canadian Loan Agreement to provide for quarterly repayments of the UST Loans and Canadian Loan. Pursuant to these amendments, in December 2009 and March 2010 we made quarterly payments of $1.0 billion and $1.0 billion on the UST Loans and quarterly payments of $192 million and $194 million on the Canadian Loan. In April 2010, we used funds from our escrow account to repay in full the outstanding amount of the UST Loans of $4.7 billion. In addition, GMCL repaid in full the outstanding amount of the Canadian Loan of $1.1 billion. Both loans were repaid prior to maturity.

UST Escrow Funds

Proceeds of the DIP Facility of $16.4 billion were deposited in escrow. We used our escrow account to acquire all Class A Membership Interests in DIP HOLDCO LLP, subsequently named Delphi Automotive LLP, (New Delphi) in the amount of $1.7 billion and acquire Nexteer and four domestic facilities and make other related payments in the amount of $1.0 billion. In addition, $2.4 billion was released from escrow in connection with two quarterly payments of $1.2 billion on the UST Loans and Canadian Loan. Following the repayment of the UST Loans and the Canadian Loan, the remaining funds in an amount of $6.6 billion that were held in escrow became unrestricted. The availability of those funds is no longer subject to the conditions set forth in the UST Credit Agreement.

Repayment of German Revolving Bridge Facility

In May 2009 Old GM entered into a revolving bridge facility with the German federal government and certain German states (German Facility) with a total commitment of up to Euro 1.5 billion (equivalent to $2.1 billion when entered into) and maturing November 30, 2009. The German Facility was necessary in order to provide sufficient capital to operate Opel/Vauxhall. On November 24, 2009, the debt was paid in full and extinguished.

 

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Repayment of VEBA Notes

On July 10, 2009 we entered into the VEBA Note Agreement and issued the VEBA Notes in the principal amount of $2.5 billion to the New VEBA. On October 26, 2010, we repaid in full the outstanding amount (together with accreted interest thereon) of the VEBA Notes of $2.8 billion.

Purchase of Series A Preferred Stock from the UST

In October 2010, we entered into an agreement with the UST to purchase 83.9 million shares of our Series A Preferred Stock. We agreed to purchase the shares of Series A Preferred Stock at a purchase price equal to 102% of their $2.1 billion aggregate liquidation amount. The purchase of the Series A Preferred Stock is contingent upon the completion of the common stock offering. Assuming completion of the common stock offering, we intend to purchase the Series A Preferred Stock on the first dividend payment date for the Series A Preferred Stock after the completion of the common stock offering.

Brand Rationalization

As mentioned previously, we will focus our resources in the U.S. on four brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. As a result, we completed the sale of Saab in February 2010 and the sale of Saab Automobile GB (Saab GB) in May 2010 and have ceased production of our Pontiac, Saturn, and HUMMER brands and continue the wind-down process of the related dealers.

Saturn

In September 2009 we decided to wind down the Saturn brand and dealership network in accordance with the deferred termination agreements that Saturn dealers have signed with us. Pursuant to the terms of the deferred termination agreements, the wind-down process is scheduled to be completed no later than October 2010.

Saab

In February 2010 we completed the sale of Saab and in May 2010 we completed the sale of Saab GB to Spyker Cars NV. As part of the agreement, Saab, Saab GB and Spyker Cars NV will operate under the Spyker Cars NV umbrella, and Spyker Cars NV will assume responsibility for Saab operations. The previously announced wind-down activities of Saab operations have ended.

Opel/Vauxhall Restructuring Activities

In February 2010 we presented our plan for the long-term viability of our Opel/Vauxhall operations to the German federal government and subsequently held discussions with European governments concerning funding support. Our plan included:

 

   

Funding requirement estimates of Euro 3.7 billion (equivalent to $5.1 billion) including an original estimate of Euro 3.3 billion plus an additional Euro 0.4 billion, requested by European governments, to offset the potential effect of adverse market developments;

 

   

Financing contributions from us of Euro 1.9 billion (equivalent to $2.6 billion) or more than 50% of the overall funding requirements;

 

   

Requests of total funding support/loan guarantees from European governments of Euro 1.8 billion (equivalent to $2.5 billion);

 

   

Plans to invest in capital and engineering of Euro 11.0 billion (equivalent to $15.0 billion) over the next five years; and

 

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Reduced capacity to adjust to then-current and forecasted market conditions including headcount reductions of 1,300 employees in sales and administration, 7,000 employees in manufacturing and the idling of our Antwerp, Belgium facility.

In June 2010 the German federal government notified us of its decision not to provide loan guarantees to Opel/Vauxhall. As a result, we have decided to fund the requirements of Opel/Vauxhall internally, including any amounts necessary to fund the approximately $1.3 billion in cash required to complete the European restructuring program. Opel/Vauxhall has subsequently withdrawn all applications for government loan guarantees from European governments.

In September 2010 we committed up to a total of Euro 3.3 billion (equivalent to $4.2 billion when committed) to fund Opel/Vauxhall’s restructuring and ongoing cash requirements. This funding includes cumulative lending commitments combined into a Euro 2.6 billion facility and equity commitments of Euro 700 million.

We plan to continue to invest in capital, engineering and innovative fuel efficient powertrain technologies including an extended- range electric vehicle and battery electric vehicles. Our plan also includes aggressive capacity reductions including headcount reductions and the closing of our Antwerp, Belgium facility.

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 GME recorded charges of $80 million related to separation programs in the U.K. and Germany and an early retirement plan in Spain of $61 million, which will affect 1,200 employees.

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 GME recorded charges of $445 million related to a separation plan associated with the closure of the Antwerp, Belgium facility. Negotiations for the final termination benefits were concluded in April 2010, and the total separation costs are estimated to be Euro 0.4 billion (equivalent to $0.5 billion). There were 2,600 employees affected, of which 1,300 separated in June 2010. In addition, GME and employee representatives entered into a Memorandum of Understanding whereby both parties cooperated in a working group, which also included the Flemish government, in order to find an outside investor to acquire and operate the facility. In October 2010 we announced that the search for an investor had been unsuccessful and the vehicle assembly operations in Antwerp, Belgium will cease at the end of 2010.

By the start of 2012, we plan to have 80% of our Opel/Vauxhall carlines volume refreshed such that the model stylings are less than three years old. In addition, we plan to invest Euro 1.0 billion to introduce innovative fuel efficient powertrain technologies including an additional extended-range electric vehicle and introducing battery-electric vehicles in smaller-size segments.

Resolution of Delphi Matters

In October 2009 we consummated the transaction contemplated in the Delphi Master Disposition Agreement (DMDA) with Delphi and other parties. Under the DMDA, we agreed to acquire Nexteer, which supplies us and other OEMs with steering systems and columns, and four domestic facilities that manufacture a variety of automotive components, primarily sold to us. We, along with several third party investors who held the Delphi Tranche DIP Facility (collectively, the Investors), agreed to acquire substantially all of Delphi’s remaining assets through New Delphi. Certain excluded assets and liabilities have been retained by a Delphi entity (DPH) to be sold or liquidated. In connection with the DMDA, we agreed to pay or assume Delphi obligations of $1.0 billion related to its senior DIP credit facility, including certain outstanding derivative instruments, its junior DIP credit facility, and other Delphi obligations, including certain administrative claims. At the closing of the transactions contemplated by the DMDA, we waived administrative claims associated with our advance agreements with Delphi, the payment terms acceleration agreement with Delphi and the claims associated with previously transferred pension costs for hourly employees.

 

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We agreed to acquire, prior to the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the DMDA, all Class A Membership Interests in New Delphi for a cash contribution of $1.7 billion with the Investors acquiring Class B Membership Interests. We and the Investors also agreed to establish: (1) a secured delayed draw term loan facility for New Delphi, with us and the Investors each committing to provide loans of up to $500 million; and (2) a note of $41 million to be funded at closing by the Investors. In addition, the DMDA settled outstanding claims and assessments against and from MLC, us and Delphi, including the termination of the Master Restructuring Agreement with limited exceptions, and establishes an ongoing commercial relationship with New Delphi. We agreed to continue all existing Delphi supply agreements and purchase orders for GMNA to the end of the related product program, and New Delphi agreed to provide us with access rights designed to allow us to operate specific sites on defined triggering events to provide us with protection of supply.

In separate agreements, we, Delphi and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) negotiated the settlement of the PBGC’s claims from the termination of the Delphi pension plans and the release of certain liens with the PBGC against Delphi’s foreign assets. In return, the PBGC was granted a 100% interest in Class C Membership Interests in New Delphi which provides for the PBGC to participate in predefined equity distributions and received a payment of $70 million from us. We maintain certain obligations relating to Delphi hourly employees to provide the difference between pension benefits paid by the PBGC according to regulation and those originally guaranteed by Old GM under the Delphi Benefit Guarantee Agreements.

Pursue Section 136 Loans

Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 establishes an incentive program consisting of both grants and direct loans to support the development of advanced technology vehicles and associated components in the U.S.

The U.S. Congress provided the DOE with $25.0 billion in funding to make direct loans to eligible applicants for the costs of re-equipping, expanding, and establishing manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce advanced technology vehicles and components for these vehicles. Old GM submitted three applications for Section 136 Loans aggregating $10.3 billion to support its advanced technology vehicle programs prior to July 2009. Based on the findings of the Auto Task Force under the UST Loan Agreement in March 2009, the DOE determined that Old GM did not meet the viability requirements for Section 136 Loans.

On July 10, 2009, we purchased certain assets of Old GM pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, including the rights to the loan applications submitted to the ATVMIP. Further, we submitted a fourth application in August 2009. Subsequently, the DOE advised us to resubmit a consolidated application including all the four applications submitted earlier and also the Electric Power Steering project acquired from Delphi in October 2009. We submitted the consolidated application in October 2009, which requested an aggregate amount of $14.4 billion of Section 136 Loans. Ongoing product portfolio updates and project modifications requested from the DOE have the potential to reduce the maximum loan amount. To date, the DOE has announced that it would provide approximately $8.4 billion in Section 136 Loans to Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motor Company, Tesla Motors, Inc., Fisker Automotive, Inc., and Tenneco Inc. There can be no assurance that we will qualify for any remaining loans or receive any such loans even if we qualify.

Development of Multiple Financing Sources and Acquisition of AmeriCredit Corp.

A significant percentage of our customers and dealers require financing to purchase our vehicles. Historically, Ally Financial has provided most of the financing for our dealers and a significant amount of financing for our customers in the U.S., Canada and various other markets around the world. Additionally, we maintain other financing relationships, such as with U.S. Bank for U.S. leasing, GM Financial for sub-prime lending and a variety of local and regional financing sources around the world.

On October 1, 2010 we acquired AmeriCredit, an independent automobile finance company for cash of approximately $3.5 billion. We expect AmeriCredit, which was subsequently renamed GM Financial, will allow

 

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us to complement our existing relationship with Ally Financial in order to provide a more complete range of financing options to our customers, specifically focusing on providing additional capabilities in leasing and sub-prime financing options. We also plan to use GM Financial for targeted customer marketing initiatives to expand our vehicle sales.

Focus on Chinese Market

Our Chinese operations, which we established beginning in 1997, are primarily composed of three joint ventures: SGM, SGMW and FAW-GM. We view the Chinese market, the fastest growing global market by volume of vehicles sold, as important to our global growth strategy and are employing a multi-brand strategy, led by our Buick division, which we believe is a strong brand in China. In the coming years, we plan to increasingly leverage our global architectures to increase the number of nameplates under the Chevrolet brand in China. Sales and income of the joint ventures are not consolidated into our financial statements; rather, our proportionate share of the earnings of each joint venture is reflected as Equity income in the consolidated statement of operations.

SGM is a joint venture established by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) (51%) and us (49%) in 1997. SGM has interests in three other joint ventures in China—Shanghai GM (Shenyang) Norsom Motor Co., Ltd (SGM Norsom), Shanghai GM Dong Yue Motors Co., Ltd (SGM DY) and Shanghai GM Dong Yue Powertrain (SGM DYPT). These three joint ventures are jointly held by SGM (50%), SAIC (25%) and us (25%). The four joint ventures (SGM Group) are engaged in the production, import, and sale of a comprehensive range of products under the brands of Buick, Chevrolet, and Cadillac.

SGMW, of which we own 34%, SAIC owns 50% and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co., Ltd. (Wuling) owns 16%, produces mini-commercial vehicles and passenger cars utilizing local architectures under the Wuling and Chevrolet brands. FAW-GM, of which we own 50% and China FAW Group Corporation (FAW) owns 50%, produces light commercial vehicles under the Jiefang brand and medium vans under the FAW brand. Our joint venture agreements allow for significant rights as a member as well as the contractual right to report SGMW and FAW-GM production volume in China. SAIC, one of our joint venture partners, currently produces vehicles under its own name for sale in the Chinese market. At present, vehicles that SAIC produces primarily serve markets that are different from markets served by our joint ventures.

The following table summarizes certain key operational and financial data for the SGM Group, which excludes SGMW and FAW-GM (dollars in millions):

 

     Nine Months Ended  
     September 30,
2010
    September 30,
2009
 

Total Wholesale Units

     742,162        480,215   

Market share

     5.58     4.95

Total net sales and revenues

   $ 13,881      $ 8,657   

Net income

   $ 1,915      $ 838   
     September 30,
2010
    December 31,
2009
 

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 3,601      $ 2,995   

Debt

   $ 7      $ 7   

During the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, SGM, SGMW and FAW-GM sold 1.7 million, 1.8 million, 1.1 million and 1.0 million vehicles in China. In the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the period July 10, 2009 through December 31, 2009, the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 and the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007, SGM and SGMW, the largest of these three joint ventures, combined to provide equity income, net of tax, to us and Old GM of $1.1 billion, $466 million, $298 million, $312 million and $430 million.

 

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In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 we entered into an equity transfer agreement to purchase an additional 10% interest in SGMW from the Wuling Group for $51 million in cash plus an agreement to provide technical services to the Wuling Group through 2013. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in China. After completing this transaction, we will own 44% of the outstanding stock of SGMW.

On November 3, 2010, we and SAIC entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would, if binding agreements are concluded by the parties, result in several strategic cooperation initiatives between us and SAIC. The initiatives covered by the MOU include:

 

   

cooperation in the development of new energy vehicles, such as appropriate electric vehicle architectures and battery electric vehicle technical development;

 

   

further expanding the role of Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Co., Ltd (our China-based engineering and technical joint venture with SAIC) in vehicle development, new technology development and participation in GM’s global vehicle development process;

 

   

sharing an additional vehicle architecture and powertrain application with SAIC in an effort to help reduce development costs and benefit from economies of scale;

 

   

potential cooperation in providing access to a GM distribution network outside China for certain of SAIC’s MG branded products;

 

   

technology and systems development training for SAIC’s engineers; and

 

   

discussions to determine possible areas of cooperation in the development of future diesel engines.

The parties expect to reach definitive agreements regarding the MOU initiatives by December 31, 2010.

GM South America

In June 2010, we announced that, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2010, we are creating a new regional organization in South America. The new organization, GM South America, will be headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and its president will report to our chairman and chief executive officer. GM South America will include existing sales and manufacturing operations in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, as well as sales activities in those countries and Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. As part of our global product operations organization, GM South America will have product design and engineering capabilities, which will allow it to continue creating local cars and trucks that complement our global product architectures. GM South America will initially have approximately 30,000 employees.

Sale of Nexteer

On July 7, 2010 we entered into a definitive agreement to sell Nexteer to an unaffiliated party. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals and review by government agencies in the U.S. and China. At September 30, 2010 Nexteer had total assets of $857 million, total liabilities of $376 million, and recorded revenue of $1.4 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2010, of which $765 million were sales to us and our affiliates. Nexteer did not qualify for held for sale classification at September 30, 2010. Once consummated, we do not expect the sale of Nexteer to have a material effect on our audited consolidated financial statements or our unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

Contribution of Cash and Common Stock to U.S. Hourly and Salaried Pension Plans

In October 2010, we announced our intention to contribute $6.0 billion to our U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans, consisting of $4.0 billion of cash and $2.0 billion of our common stock, following the completion

 

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the common stock offering and the Series B preferred stock offering. The common stock contribution is contingent on Department of Labor approval, which we expect to receive in the near-term. Based on the number of shares determined using an assumed public offering price per share of our common stock in the common stock offering of $32.50, the midpoint of the range for the common stock offering set forth on the cover of this prospectus, the anticipated common stock contribution would consist of 61.5 million shares of our common stock. Although we currently expect to make the cash and common stock contributions, we are not obligated to do so and cannot assure you that they will occur.

New Secured Revolving Credit Facility

In October 2010, we entered into a new five year, $5.0 billion secured revolving credit facility. While we do not believe the proceeds of the secured revolving credit facility are required to fund operating activities, the facility is expected to provide additional liquidity and financing flexibility. Refer to the section of this prospectus entitled “—Liquidity and Capital Resources—New Secured Revolving Credit Facility” for additional information about the secured revolving credit facility.

Investment in Ally Financial

As part of the approval process for Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) to obtain Bank Holding Company status in December 2008, Old GM agreed to reduce its ownership in Ally Financial to less than 10% of the voting and total equity of Ally Financial by December 24, 2011. At December 31, 2009 our equity ownership in Ally Financial was 16.6%.

In December 2008 Old GM and FIM Holdings, an assignee of Cerberus ResCap Financing LLC, entered into a subscription agreement with Ally Financial under which each agreed to purchase additional Common Membership Interests in Ally Financial, and the UST committed to provide Old GM with additional funding in order to purchase the additional interests. In January 2009 Old GM entered into the UST Ally Financial Loan Agreement pursuant to which it borrowed $884 million (UST Ally Financial Loan) and utilized those funds to purchase 190,921 Class B Common Membership Interests of Ally Financial. The UST Ally Financial Loan was scheduled to mature in January 2012 and bore interest, payable quarterly, at the same rate of interest as the UST Loans. The UST Ally Financial Loan was secured by Old GM’s Common and Preferred Membership Interests in Ally Financial. As part of this loan agreement, the UST had the option to convert outstanding amounts into a maximum of 190,921 shares of Ally Financial’s Class B Common Membership Interests on a pro rata basis.

In May 2009 the UST exercised this option, the outstanding principal and interest under the UST Ally Financial Loan was extinguished, and Old GM recorded a net gain of $483 million. The net gain was comprised of a gain on the disposition of Ally Financial Common Membership Interests of $2.5 billion and a loss on extinguishment of the UST Ally Financial Loan of $2.0 billion. After the exchange, Old GM’s ownership was reduced to 24.5% of Ally Financial’s Common Membership Interests. Until June 30, 2009, Old GM accounted for its investment in Ally Financial using the equity method of accounting. For additional information on our and Old GM’s investment in GMAC, refer to Note 10 and Note 16 to our audited consolidated financial statements.

Ally Financial converted its status to a C corporation effective June 30, 2009. At that date, Old GM began to account for its investment in Ally Financial using the cost method rather than the equity method as Old GM could not exercise significant influence over Ally Financial. Prior to Ally Financial’s conversion to a C corporation, Old GM’s investment in Ally Financial was accounted for in a manner similar to an investment in a limited partnership, and the equity method was applied because Old GM’s influence was more than minor. In connection with Ally Financial’s conversion into a C corporation, each unit of each class of Ally Financial Membership Interests was converted into shares of capital stock of Ally Financial with substantially the same rights and preferences as such Membership Interests. On July 10, 2009 we acquired Old GM’s investments in Ally Financial’s common and preferred stocks in connection with the 363 Sale.

 

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In December 2009 the UST made a capital contribution to Ally Financial of $3.8 billion consisting of the purchase of trust preferred securities of $2.5 billion and mandatory convertible preferred securities of $1.3 billion. The UST also exchanged all of its existing Ally Financial non-convertible preferred stock for newly issued mandatory convertible preferred securities valued at $5.3 billion. In addition the UST converted $3.0 billion of its mandatory convertible preferred securities into Ally Financial common stock. These actions resulted in the dilution of our Ally Financial common stock investment from 24.5% to 16.6%, of which 6.7% is held directly and 9.9% is held in an independent trust. Pursuant to previous commitments to reduce influence over and ownership in Ally Financial, the trustee, who is independent of us, has the sole authority to vote and is required to dispose of all Ally Financial common stock held in the trust by December 24, 2011.

Special Attrition Programs, Labor Agreements and Benefit Plan Changes

2009 Special Attrition Programs and U.S. Hourly Workforce Reductions

In February and June 2009 Old GM announced the 2009 Special Attrition Programs for eligible UAW represented employees, offering cash and other incentives for individuals who elected to retire or voluntarily terminate employment. In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Old GM recorded postemployment benefit charges related to these programs for 13,000 employees. In the periods January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 and July 10, 2009 through December 31, 2009, 7,980 and 5,000 employees accepted the terms of the 2009 Special Attrition Programs. At December 31, 2009 our U.S. hourly headcount was 51,000 employees. At December 31, 2008 Old GM’s U.S. hourly headcount was 62,000 employees. This represents a decrease of 16,000 U.S. hourly employees, excluding 5,000 U.S. hourly employees acquired with Nexteer and four domestic facilities.

Global Salaried Workforce Reductions

In February and June 2009 Old GM announced its intention to reduce global salaried headcount. The U.S. salaried employee reductions related to this initiative were to be accomplished primarily through the 2009 Salaried Window Program or through a severance program funded from operating cash flows. These programs were involuntary programs subject to management approval where employees were permitted to express interest in retirement or separation, for which the charges for the 2009 Salaried Window Program were recorded as special termination benefits funded from the U.S. salaried defined benefit pension plan and other applicable retirement benefit plans.

A net reduction of 9,000 salaried employees was achieved globally, excluding 2,000 salaried employees acquired with our acquisition of Nexteer and four domestic facilities, as more fully discussed in the above section of this prospectus entitled “—Specific Management Initiatives—Resolution of Delphi Matters.” Global salaried headcount decreased from 73,000 salaried employees at December 31, 2008 to 66,000 at December 31, 2009, including a reduction of 5,500 U.S. salaried employees.

U.S. Salaried Benefits Changes

In February 2009 Old GM reduced salaried retiree life benefits for U.S. salaried employees. In June 2009 Old GM approved and communicated plan amendments associated with the U.S. salaried retiree health care program including reduced coverage and increases to cost sharing. In June 2009 Old GM also communicated changes in benefits for retired salaried employees including an acceleration and further reduction in retiree life insurance, elimination of the supplemental executive life insurance benefit, and reduction in supplemental executive retirement plan.

2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement

In May 2009 the UAW and Old GM agreed to the 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement relating to the UAW hourly retiree medical plan and the 2008 UAW Settlement Agreement that permanently shifted

 

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responsibility for providing retiree health care from Old GM to the New Plan funded by the New VEBA. The 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement was subject to the successful completion of the 363 Sale, and we and the UAW executed the 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement on July 10, 2009 in connection with the 363 Sale. Details of the most significant changes to the agreement are:

 

   

The Implementation Date changed from January 1, 2010 to the later of December 31, 2009 or the closing date of the 363 Sale, which occurred on July 10, 2009;

 

   

The timing of payments to the New VEBA changed as subsequently discussed;

 

   

The form of consideration changed as subsequently discussed;

 

   

The contribution of employer securities changed such that they are contributed directly to the New VEBA in connection with the 363 Sale on July 10, 2009;

 

   

Certain coverages will be eliminated and certain cost sharing provisions will increase; and

 

   

The flat monthly special pension lifetime benefit that was scheduled to commence on January 1, 2010 was eliminated.

There was no change to the timing of our existing internal VEBA asset transfer to the New VEBA in that the internal VEBA asset transfer occurred within 10 business days after December 31, 2009 in accordance with both the 2008 UAW Settlement Agreement and the 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement. The VEBA assets were not consolidated by us after the settlement was recorded at December 31, 2009 because we did not hold a controlling financial interest in the entity that held such assets at that date.

The new payment terms to the New VEBA under the 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement are:

 

   

VEBA Notes of $2.5 billion and accrued interest, at an implied interest rate of 9.0% per annum;

 

   

260 million shares of our Series A Preferred Stock that accrue cumulative dividends at 9.0% per annum;

 

   

263 million shares (17.5%) of our common stock;

 

   

A warrant to acquire 45 million shares (2.5%) of our common stock at $42.31 per share at any time prior to December 31, 2015;

 

   

Two years funding of claims costs for certain individuals that elected to participate in the 2009 Special Attrition Programs; and

 

   

The existing internal VEBA assets.

On October 26, 2010 we repaid in full the outstanding amount (together with accreted interest thereon) of the VEBA Notes of $2.8 billion.

Under the terms of the 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement, we are released from UAW retiree health care claims incurred after December 31, 2009. All obligations of ours, the New Plan and any other entity or benefit plan of ours for retiree medical benefits for the class and the covered group arising from any agreement between us and the UAW terminated at December 31, 2009. Our obligations to the New Plan and the New VEBA are limited to the 2009 Revised UAW Settlement Agreement.

 

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IUE-CWA and USW Settlement Agreement

In September 2009 we entered into a settlement agreement with MLC, the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers — Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA) and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW). Under the settlement agreement, the IUE-CWA and the USW agreed to withdraw and release all claims against us and MLC relating to retiree health care benefits and basic life insurance benefits. In exchange, the IUE-CWA, the USW and any additional union that agrees to the terms of the settlement agreement will be granted an allowed pre-petition unsecured claim in MLC’s Chapter 11 proceedings of $1.0 billion with respect to retiree health and life insurance benefits for the post-age-65 medicare eligible retirees, post-age-65 surviving spouses and under-age-65 medicare eligible retirees or surviving spouses disqualified for retiree health care benefits from us under the settlement agreement. For participants remaining eligible for health care, certain coverages were eliminated and cost sharing will increase.

The settlement agreement was expressly conditioned upon, and did not become effective until approved by the Bankruptcy Court in MLC’s Chapter 11 proceedings, which occurred in November 2009. Several additional unions representing MLC hourly retirees joined the IUE-CWA and USW settlement agreement with respect to health care and life insurance.

2009 CAW Agreement

In March 2009 Old GM announced that the members of the CAW had ratified the 2009 CAW Agreement intended to reduce manufacturing costs in Canada by closing the competitive gap with transplant automakers in the United States on active employee labor costs and reducing legacy costs through introducing co-payments for healthcare benefits, increasing employee healthcare cost sharing, freezing pension benefits and eliminating cost of living adjustments to pensions for retired hourly workers. The 2009 CAW Agreement was conditioned on Old GM receiving longer term financial support from the Canadian and Ontario governments.

GMCL subsequently entered into additional negotiations with the CAW which resulted in a further addendum to the 2008 collective agreement which was ratified by the CAW members in May 2009. In June 2009 the Ontario and Canadian governments agreed to the terms of a loan agreement, approved the GMCL viability plan and provided funding to GMCL.

In June 2009 GMCL and the CAW agreed to the terms of an independent Health Care Trust (HCT) to provide retiree health care benefits to certain active and retired employees. The HCT will be implemented when certain preconditions are achieved including certain changes to the Canadian Income Tax Act and the favorable completion of a class action process to bind existing retirees to the HCT. The latter is subject to the agreement of the representative retirees and the courts. The preconditions have not been achieved and the HCT is not yet implemented at September 30, 2010. Under the terms of the HCT agreement, GMCL is obligated to make a payment of CAD $1.0 billion on the HCT implementation date which it will fund out of its CAD $1.0 billion escrow funds, adjusted for the net difference between the amount of retiree monthly contributions received during the period December 31, 2009 through the HCT implementation date less the cost of benefits paid for claims incurred by covered employees during this period. GMCL will provide a CAD $800 million note payable to the HCT on the HCT implementation date which will accrue interest at an annual rate of 7.0% with five equal annual installments of $256 million due December 31 of 2014 through 2018. Concurrent with the implementation of the HCT, GMCL will be legally released from all obligations associated with the cost of providing retiree health care benefits to CAW active and retired employees bound by the class action process.

Canadian Defined Benefit Pension Plan Contributions

Under the terms of the pension agreement with the Government of Ontario and the Superintendent of Financial Services and as required by regulation, GMCL was required to make initial contributions of CAD

 

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$3.3 billion to the Canadian hourly defined benefit pension plan and CAD $0.7 billion to the Canadian salaried defined benefit pension plan, effective September 2, 2009. The contributions were made as scheduled. GMCL is required to make five annual contributions of CAD $200 million, payable in monthly installments, beginning in September 2009. The payments will be allocated between the Canadian hourly defined benefit pension plan and the Canadian salaried defined benefit pension plan as specified in the loan agreement.

Delphi Corporation

In July 2009 we entered into the DMDA with Delphi and other parties. Under the DMDA, we agreed to acquire Nexteer and four domestic facilities. As a result of the DMDA, active Delphi plan participants at the sites covered by the DMDA are now covered under our comparable counterpart plans as new employees with vesting rights. As part of the DMDA, we also assumed liabilities associated with certain international benefit plans.

Job Security Programs

In May 2009 Old GM and the UAW entered into a broad agreement which was required to meet cost benchmarks and the expectations of the U.S. government for significant further reductions in the Company’s longer term liabilities. One of the significant addendums to the May 2009 agreement was that the Job Opportunity Bank (JOBS) Program was suspended, modifications were made to the Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) Program, and the Transition Support Program (TSP) was added. This resulted in the providing of reduced wages and benefits for a shorter duration than the benefits previously provided. Further, the duration of benefits is now tiered based on an employee’s years of service. This narrowed the labor cost competitive gap with GM’s U.S. competitors, including transplant automakers. A similar tiered benefit is provided to CAW employees.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama in March 2010 and contains provisions that require all future reimbursement receipts under the Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy program to be included in taxable income. This taxable income inclusion will not significantly affect us because, effective January 1, 2010, we no longer provide prescription drug coverage to post-age-65 Medicare-eligible participants, and we have a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets in the U.S. We have assessed the other provisions of this new law, based on information known at this time, and we believe that the new law will not have a significant effect on our consolidated financial statements.

Venezuelan Exchange Regulations

Our Venezuelan subsidiaries changed their functional currency from Bolivar Fuerte (the BsF), the local currency, to the U.S. Dollar, our reporting currency, on January 1, 2010 because of the hyperinflationary status of the Venezuelan economy. Further, pursuant to the official devaluation of the Venezuelan currency and establishment of the dual fixed exchange rates in January 2010, we remeasured the BsF denominated monetary assets and liabilities held by our Venezuelan subsidiaries at the nonessential rate of 4.30 BsF to $1.00. The remeasurement resulted in a charge of $25 million recorded in Cost of sales in the three months ended March 31, 2010. During the nine months ended September 30, 2010 all BsF denominated transactions have been remeasured at the nonessential rate of 4.30 BsF to $1.00.

In June 2010, the Venezuelan government introduced additional foreign currency exchange control regulations, which imposed restrictions on the use of the parallel foreign currency exchange market, thereby making it more difficult to convert BsF to U.S. Dollars. We periodically accessed the parallel exchange market, which historically enabled entities to obtain foreign currency for transactions that could not be processed by the Commission for the Administration of Currency Exchange (CADIVI). The restrictions on the foreign currency exchange market could affect our Venezuelan subsidiaries’ ability to pay non-BsF denominated obligations that do not qualify to be processed by CADIVI at the official exchange rates as well as our ability to benefit from those operations.

 

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Effect of Fresh-Start Reporting

The application of fresh-start reporting significantly affected certain assets, liabilities, and expenses. As a result, certain financial information at and for any period after July 10, 2009 is not comparable to Old GM’s financial information. Therefore, we did not combine certain financial information in the period July 10, 2009 through December 31, 2009 with Old GM’s financial information in the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 for comparison to prior periods. For the purpose of the following discussion, we have combined our Total net sales and revenue in the period July 10, 2009 through December 31, 2009 with Old GM’s Total net sales and revenue in the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009. Total net sales and revenue was not significantly affected by fresh-start reporting and therefore we combined vehicle sales data comparing the Successor and Predecessor periods. Refer to Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements for additional information on fresh-start reporting.

Because our and Old GM’s financial information is not comparable, we are providing additional financial metrics for the periods presented in addition to disclosures concerning significant transactions and trends at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009 and in the periods presented.

Total net sales and revenue is primarily comprised of revenue generated from the sales of vehicles, in addition to revenue from OnStar, our customer subscription service, vehicle sales accounted for as operating leases and sales of parts and accessories.

Cost of sales is primarily comprised of material, labor, manufacturing overhead, freight, foreign currency transaction and translation gains and losses, product engineering, design and development expenses, depreciation and amortization, policy and warranty costs, postemployment benefit costs, and separation and impairment charges. Prior to our application of fresh-start reporting on July 10, 2009, Cost of sales also included gains and losses on derivative instruments. Effective July 10, 2009 gains and losses related to all nondesignated derivatives are recorded in Interest income and other non-operating income, net.

Selling, general and administrative expense is primarily comprised of costs related to the advertising, selling and promotion of products, support services, including central office expenses, labor and benefit expenses for employees not considered part of the manufacturing process, consulting costs, rental expense for offices, bad debt expense and non-income based state and local taxes.

 

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Consolidated Results of Operations

(Dollars in Millions)

 

    Successor           Predecessor  
    Nine Months
Ended
September 30,
2010
    July 10, 2009
Through
December 31,
2009
    July 10, 2009
Through
September 30,
2009
          January 1, 2009
Through
July 9,

2009
    Year Ended
December 31,
2008
    Year Ended
December 31,
2007
 
    Unaudited                                      

Net sales and revenue

               

Sales

  $ 98,568      $ 57,329      $ 25,060          $ 46,787      $ 147,732      $ 177,594   

Other revenue

    142        145        87            328        1,247        2,390   
                                                   

Total net sales and revenue

    98,710        57,474        25,147            47,115        148,979        179,984   
                                                   

Costs and expenses

               

Cost of sales

    85,818        56,381        23,554            55,814        149,257        165,573   

Selling, general and administrative expense

    8,017        6,006        2,636            6,161        14,253        14,412   

Other expenses, net

    115        15        (40         1,235        6,699        4,308   
                                                   

Total costs and expenses

    93,950        62,402        26,150            63,210        170,209        184,293   
                                                   

Operating income (loss)

    4,760        (4,928     (1,003         (16,095     (21,230     (4,309

Equity in income (loss) of and disposition of interest in Ally Financial

                             1,380        (6,183     (1,245

Interest expense

    (850     (694     (365         (5,428     (2,525     (3,076

Interest income and other non-operating income, net

    802        440        454            852        424        2,284   

Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt

    (1     (101                (1,088     43          

Reorganization gains, net

                             128,155                 
                                                   

Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes and equity income

    4,711        (5,283     (914         107,776        (29,471     (6,346

Income tax expense (benefit)

    845        (1,000     (139         (1,166     1,766        36,863   

Equity income, net of tax

    1,165        497        204            61        186        524   
                                                   

Income (loss) from continuing operations

    5,031        (3,786     (571         109,003        (31,051     (42,685

Discontinued operations

               

Income from discontinued operations, net of tax

                                           256   

Gain on sale of discontinued operations, net of tax

                                           4,293   
                                                   

Income from discontinued operations

                                           4,549   
                                                   

Net income (loss)

    5,031        (3,786     (571         109,003        (31,051     (38,136

Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests

    265        511        287            (115     (108     406   
                                                   

Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders

    4,766        (4,297     (858         109,118        (30,943     (38,542

Less: Cumulative dividends on preferred stock

    608        131        50                            
                                                   

Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders

  $ 4,158      $ (4,428   $ (908       $ 109,118      $ (30,943   $ (38,542
                                                   

 

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Production and Vehicle Sales Volume

Management believes that production volume and vehicle sales data provide meaningful information regarding our operating results. Production volumes manufactured by our assembly facilities are generally aligned with current period net sales and revenue, as we generally recognize revenue upon the release of the vehicle to the carrier responsible for transporting it to a dealer, which is shortly after the completion of production. Vehicle sales data, which includes retail and fleet sales, does not correlate directly to the revenue we recognize during the period. However, vehicle sales data is indicative of the underlying demand for our vehicles, and is the basis for our market share.

The following tables summarize total production volume and sales of new motor vehicles and competitive position (in thousands):

 

     GM      Combined GM
and Old GM
     Old GM  
     Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
     Year Ended
December 31, 2009
     Year Ended
December 31, 2008
     Year Ended
December 31, 2007
 

Production Volume (a)

           

GMNA

     2,106         1,913         3,449         4,267   

GMIO (b)(c)

    
3,418
  
     3,484         3,200         3,246   

GME

    
921
  
     1,106         1,495         1,773   
                                   

Worldwide

     6,445         6,503         8,144         9,286   
                                   

 

(a) Production volume represents the number of vehicles manufactured by our and Old GM’s assembly facilities and also includes vehicles produced by certain joint ventures.

 

(b) Includes SGM joint venture production in China of 735,000 vehicles and SGMW, FAW-GM joint venture production in China and SAIC GM Investment Ltd. (HKJV) joint venture production in India of 1.1 million vehicles in the nine months ended September 30, 2010, combined GM and Old GM SGM joint venture production in China of 712,000 vehicles and combined GM and Old GM SGMW and FAW-GM joint venture production in China of 1.2 million vehicles in the year ended December 31, 2009 and Old GM SGM joint venture production in China of 439,000 vehicles and 491,000 vehicles and Old GM SGMW joint venture production in China of 646,000 vehicles and 555,000 vehicles in the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007.

 

(c) The joint venture agreements with SGMW (34%) and FAW-GM (50%) allows for significant rights as a member as well as the contractual right to report SGMW and FAW-GM joint venture production in China.

 

     Nine Months
Ended
September 30, 2010
     Nine Months
Ended
September 30, 2009
 
     GM      GM
as a %  of
Industry
     Combined GM
and Old GM
     Combined GM
and Old GM

as a % of
Industry
 

Vehicle Sales (a)(b)(c)(d)

           

GMNA(e)

     1,941         18.1%         1,847         18.9%   

GMIO(f)(g)(h)

     3,041         10.2%         2,389         10.2%   

GME(f)

     1,238         8.7%         1,290         9.1%   
                       

Worldwide(f)

     6,220         11.4%         5,526         11.6%   
                       

 

(a) Includes HUMMER, Saturn and Pontiac vehicle sales data.

 

(b) Includes Saab vehicle sales data through February 2010.

 

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(c) Vehicle sales data may include rounding differences.

 

(d) Certain fleet sales that are accounted for as operating leases are included in vehicle sales at the time of delivery to the daily rental car companies.

 

(e) Vehicle sales primarily represent sales to the ultimate customer.

 

(f) Vehicle sales primarily represent estimated sales to the ultimate customer.

 

(g) Includes SGM joint venture vehicle sales in China of 713,000 vehicles and SGMW, FAW-GM joint venture vehicle sales in China and HKJV joint venture vehicle sales in India of 1.0 million vehicles in the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and combined GM and Old GM SGM joint venture vehicle sales in China of 473,000 vehicles and combined GM and Old GM SGMW and FAW-GM joint venture vehicle sales in China of 763,000 vehicles in the nine months ended September 30, 2009. We do not record revenue from our joint ventures’ vehicle sales.

 

(h) The joint venture agreements with SGMW (34%) and FAW-GM (50%) allow for significant rights as a member as well as the contractual right to report SGMW and FAW-GM joint venture vehicle sales in China.

 

    Year Ended
December 31, 2009
    Year Ended
December 31, 2008
    Year Ended
December 31, 2007
 
    Combined
GM and
Old GM
    Combined
GM and
Old GM
as a % of
Industry
    Old GM     Old GM
as a % of
Industry
    Old GM     Old GM
as a % of
Industry
 

Vehicle Sales (a)(b)(c)

           

GMNA (d)

    2,485        19.0%        3,565        21.5%        4,516        23.0%   

GMIO (e)(f)(g)

    3,326        10.2%        2,751        9.4%        2,672        9.5%   

GME (e)

    1,668        8.9%        2,043        9.3%        2,182        9.4%   
                             

Worldwide (e)

    7,478        11.6%        8,359        12.3%        9,370        13.2%   
                             

 

(a) Includes HUMMER, Saab, Saturn and Pontiac vehicle sales data.

 

(b) Vehicle sales data may include rounding differences.

 

(c) Certain fleet sales that are accounted for as operating leases are included in vehicle sales at the time of delivery to the daily rental car companies.

 

(d) Vehicle sales primarily represent sales to the ultimate customer.

 

(e) Vehicle sales primarily represent estimated sales to the ultimate customer.

 

(f) Includes combined GM and Old GM SGM joint venture vehicle sales in China of 710,000 vehicles and combined GM and Old GM SGMW and FAW-GM joint venture vehicle sales in China of 1.0 million vehicles in the year ended December 31, 2009 and Old GM SGM joint venture vehicle sales in China of 446,000 vehicles and 476,000 vehicles and Old GM SGMW joint venture vehicle sales in China of 606,000 vehicles and 516,000 vehicles in the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007. We do not record revenue from our joint ventures’ vehicle sales.

 

(g) The joint venture agreements with SGMW (34%) and FAW-GM (50%) allow for significant rights as a member as well as the contractual right to report SGMW and FAW-GM joint venture vehicle sales in China.

 

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Reconciliation of Consolidated and Segment Results

Management believes earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our operating results because it excludes amounts that management does not consider part of operating results when assessing and measuring the operational and financial performance of the organization. Management believes these measures allow it to readily view operating trends, perform analytical comparisons, benchmark performance between periods and among geographic regions and assess whether our plan to return to profitability is on target. Accordingly, we believe EBIT is useful in allowing for greater transparency of our core operations and it is therefore used by management in its financial and operational decision-making.

While management believes that EBIT provides useful information, it is not an operating measure under U. S. GAAP, and there are limitations associated with its use. Our calculation of EBIT may not be completely comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential differences between companies in the method of calculation. As a result, the use of EBIT has limitations and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, other measures such as Net income (loss) or Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders. Due to these limitations, EBIT is used as a supplement to U. S. GAAP measures.

The following table summarizes the reconciliation of EBIT to Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders for each of our operating segments (dollars in millions):

 

    Successor                 Predecessor  
    Nine Months
Ended
September 30,

2010
    July 10, 2009
Through
December 31,

2009
    July 10, 2009
Through
September 30,
2009
                January 1, 2009
Through 
July 9,

2009
          Year Ended
December 31,
2008
    Year Ended
December 31,
2007
 

Operating segments

                               

GMNA (a)

  $ 4,935        79.3   $ (4,820     108.6   $ (1,377     150.0         $ (11,092     74.6     $ (12,203     85.0   $ 1,876        55.5

GMIO (a)

    2,484        39.9     1,196        (26.9 )%      474        (51.6 )%            (964     6.5       471        (3.3 )%      1,947        57.7

GME (a)

    (1,196     (19.2 )%      (814     18.3     (15     1.6           (2,815     18.9       (2,625     18.3     (447     (13.2 )% 
                                                                                                             

Total operating segments

    6,223        100     (4,438     100     (918     100.0           (14,871     100       (14,357     100     3,376        100
                                                                   

Corporate and eliminations (b)

    (91       (349       177                128,068            (12,950       (3,207  
                                                                         

Earnings (loss) before interest and taxes

    6,132          (4,787       (741             113,197            (27,307       169     

Interest income

    329          184          109                183            655          1,228     

Interest expense

    850          694          365                5,428            2,525          3,076     

Income tax expense (benefit)

    845          (1,000       (139             (1,166         1,766          36,863     
                                                                         

Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders

  $ 4,766        $ (4,297     $ (858           $ 109,118          $ (30,943     $ (38,542  
                                                                         

 

(a) Interest and income taxes are recorded centrally in Corporate; therefore, there are no reconciling items for our operating segments between EBIT and Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders.

 

(b) Includes Reorganization gains, net of $128.2 billion in the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009.

 

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Nine Months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009

(Dollars in Millions)

Total Net Sales and Revenue

 

    GM       
 
Combined GM and
Old GM
  
  
    Successor        Predecessor     
   
 
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
  
  
   
 
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2009
  
  
   
 
 
July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
  
  
  
   
 

 

January 1, 2009
Through

July 9, 2009

  
  

  

   
 
 

 

Nine Months
Ended
2010 vs. 2009

Change

  
  
  

  

            Amount        %   

GMNA

  $ 61,045      $ 38,342      $ 14,151      $ 24,191      $ 22,703        59.2

GMIO

    25,366        18,093        6,395        11,698        7,273        40.2

GME

    17,162        17,790        5,238        12,552        (628     (3.5 )% 
                                         

Total operating segments

    103,573        74,225        25,784        48,441        29,348        39.5

Corporate and eliminations

    (4,863     (1,963     (637     (1,326     (2,900     (147.7 )% 
                                         

Total net sales and revenue

  $ 98,710      $ 72,262      $ 25,147      $ 47,115      $ 26,448        36.6
                                         

 

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 Total net sales and revenue increased compared to the corresponding period in 2009 by $26.4 billion (or 36.6%), primarily due to: (1) higher primarily wholesale volumes of $16.5 billion in GMNA due to an improving economy and successful recent vehicle launches; (2) higher wholesale volumes of $4.0 billion in GMIO primarily resulting from the market recovery and launches of new vehicles; (3) favorable pricing of $2.8 billion in GMNA due to lower sales allowances, partially offset by less favorable adjustments in the U.S. to the accrual for U.S. residual support programs for leased vehicles of $0.3 billion; (4) favorable mix of $1.6 billion in GMNA due to increased crossover and truck sales; (5) increased sales of $1.0 billion in GMNA due to the acquisition of Nexteer and four domestic component manufacturing facilities; (6) net favorable effect of foreign currency translation and transaction gains of $0.9 billion; (7) derivative losses of $0.7 billion that Old GM recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2009; (8) favorable vehicle mix of $0.6 billion in GMIO driven by launches of the new vehicles and increased sales of higher priced sport utility vehicles; (9) favorable pricing effect of $0.6 billion in GMIO, primarily in Venezuela of $0.3 billion driven by the hyperinflationary economy and strategic price increases of $0.3 billion due to strong demand for our vehicles; and (10) favorable vehicle pricing of $0.2 billion in GME due to higher pricing on new vehicle launches.

These increases were partially offset by: (1) lower wholesale volumes in GME of $0.5 billion; and (2) lower volumes of rental car activity and subsequent repurchases sold at auction of $0.3 billion in GME.

Cost of Sales

 

     Successor            Predecessor  
     Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
    July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
           January 1, 2009
Through
July 9, 2009
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
 

Cost of sales

   $ 85,818         86.9   $ 23,554         93.7        $ 55,814        118.5

Gross margin

   $ 12,892         13.1   $ 1,593         6.3        $ (8,699     (18.5 )% 

 

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GM

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 Cost of sales included: (1) restructuring charges of $0.7 billion to restructure our European operations, primarily for separation programs announced in Belgium, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom; (2) charges of $0.2 billion for a recall campaign on windshield fluid heaters in GMNA; and (3) net foreign currency translation losses of $0.2 billion; partially offset by (4) favorable adjustments of $0.2 billion to restructuring reserves in GMNA primarily due to increased production capacity utilization, which resulted in the recall of idled employees to fill added shifts at multiple U.S. production sites.

In the period July 10, 2009 through September 30, 2009 Cost of sales included: (1) favorable adjustments in GMNA and GME of $0.7 billion and $0.5 billion due to the sell through of inventory acquired from Old GM at July 10, 2009. As required under U.S. GAAP, the acquired inventory was recorded at fair value as of the acquisition date using a market participant approach, which for work in process and finished goods inventory considered the estimated selling price of the inventory less the costs a market participant would incur to complete, sell and dispose of the inventory, which may be different than our costs, and the profit margin required for its completion and disposal effort; and (2) foreign currency translation losses of $0.8 billion, primarily in GMNA driven by a strengthening in the Canadian Dollar versus the U.S. Dollar, which were partially offset by foreign currency transaction gains of $0.4 billion.

Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Cost of sales included: (1) incremental depreciation charges of $2.8 billion, primarily in GMNA and GME; (2) a curtailment loss of $1.4 billion upon the interim remeasurement of the U.S. hourly and U.S. salaried defined benefit pension plans as a result of the 2009 Special Attrition Programs and salaried workforce reductions; (3) separation program charges and Canadian restructuring activities of $1.1 billion; (4) a charge of $1.1 billion related to the SUB and TSP, partially offset by a favorable adjustment of $0.7 billion primarily related to the suspension of the JOBS Program, Old GM’s job security provision in the collective bargaining agreement with the UAW to continue paying idled employees certain wages and benefits; (5) foreign currency translation and remeasurement losses of $0.7 billion, primarily in GMNA due to the strengthening of the Canadian Dollar against the U.S. Dollar; and (6) charges of $0.1 billion related to obligations associated with various Delphi agreements.

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 negative gross margin reflected sales volumes at historically low levels and Cost of sales, including costs that are fixed in nature, exceeding Total net sales and revenue.

Selling, General and Administrative Expense

 

    Successor           Predecessor  
    Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
    July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
          January 1, 2009
Through
July 9, 2009
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
 

Selling, general and administrative expense

  $ 8,017        8.1   $ 2,636        10.5       $ 6,161        13.1

GM

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 Selling, general and administrative expense included: (1) administrative expenses of $3.2 billion; (2) advertising and sales promotion expenses of $3.4 billion to support media campaigns for our products, including expenses in GMNA of $2.2 billion, in GMIO of $0.6 billion, and in GME of $0.6 billion; and (3) selling and marketing expenses of $1.0 billion related to our dealerships.

 

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In the period July 10, 2009 through September 30, 2009 Selling, general and administrative expense included charges of $0.2 billion for dealer wind-down costs in GMNA. These expenses were partially offset by reductions in overall spending for media and advertising fees as a result of cost saving initiatives and a decline in sales and marketing expenses related to terminated brands.

Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Selling, general and administrative expense included: (1) charges of $0.5 billion recorded for dealer wind-down costs in GMNA; and (2) a curtailment loss of $0.3 billion upon the interim remeasurement of the U.S. Salary Defined Benefit Pension Plan as a result of global salary workforce reductions. This was partially offset by the positive effects of various cost savings initiatives, the cancellation of certain sales and promotion contracts as a result of the Chapter 11 Proceedings in the U.S. and overall reductions in advertising and marketing budgets.

Other Expenses, net

 

     Successor             Predecessor  
     Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
     July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
            January 1,  2009
Through

July 9, 2009
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
 

Other expenses, net

   $ 115         0.1%         (40)         (0.2)%            $ 1,235         2.6%   

GM

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 Other expenses, net included ongoing expenses related to our portfolio of automotive retail leases.

In the period July 10, 2009 through September 30, 2009 Other expenses, net was primarily comprised of: (1) depreciation expense and realized losses of $56 million related to the portfolio of automotive retail leases; and (2) expenses of $24 million related to the asset management group; partially offset by (3) gains of $60 million in GME for changes in liabilities related to Saab.

Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Other expenses, net was primarily comprised of: (1) charges of $0.8 billion in GME, primarily related to the deconsolidation of Saab; (2) charges of $0.2 billion related to Delphi; and (3) depreciation expense of $0.1 billion related to the portfolio of automotive retail leases.

Interest Expense

 

     Successor             Predecessor  
     Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
    July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
            January 1,  2009
Through

July 9, 2009
    Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
 

Interest expense

   $ (850     0.9   $ (365     1.5%            $ (5,428     11.5

GM

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 Interest expense included: (1) interest expense on GMIO debt of $0.3 billion; (2) interest expense on GMNA debt of $0.2 billion; (3) VEBA Notes interest expense and premium amortization of $0.2 billion; and (4) interest expense on the UST Loans of $0.1 billion.

 

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In the period July 10, 2009 through September 30, 2009 we incurred interest expense primarily due to the UST Loans, Canadian Loan and loans related to GMIO. At September 30, 2009 the principal balance of the UST Loans, Canadian Loan, GMIO and GME loans was $6.7 billion, $1.4 billion, $2.7 billion and $2.5 billion.

Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Old GM recorded amortization of discounts related to the UST Loan, EDC Loan, and DIP Facilities of $3.7 billion. In addition, Old GM incurred interest expense of $1.7 billion primarily related to interest expense of $0.8 billion on unsecured debt balances, $0.4 billion on the UST Loan Facility and $0.2 billion on GMIO debt. Old GM ceased accruing and paying interest on most of its unsecured U.S. and foreign denominated debt on June 1, 2009, the date of its Chapter 11 Proceedings.

Interest Income and Other Non-Operating Income, net

 

     Successor             Predecessor  
     Nine Months  Ended
September 30, 2010
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
     July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
            January 1,  2009
Through

July 9, 2009
     Percentage
of Total
net sales
and revenue
 

Interest income and other
non-operating income, net

   $ 802         0.8%         454         1.8%            $ 852         1.8%   

GM

In the nine months ended September 30, 2010 Interest income and other non-operating income, net consisted primarily of interest income of $0.3 billion on cash deposits and marketable securities, gain on the sale of Saab of $0.1 billion, rental income of $0.1 billion, Ally Financial exclusivity fee of $0.1 billion and dividend income of $0.1 billion.

In the period July 10, 2009 through September 30, 2009 Interest income and other non-operating income (expense), net consisted primarily of: (1) gains on foreign currency exchange derivatives of $195 million; (2) interest income earned from investments of $109 million; (3) net rental income of $38 million in GMNA; and (4) royalty income of $26 million in GMNA.

Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Interest income and other non-operating income (expense), net consisted primarily of: (1) interest income of $183 million earned from investments; (2) gains on derivatives of $164 million related to the return of warrants issued to the UST; (3) gains on foreign currency exchange derivatives of $91 million; (4) dividends on the investment in GMAC Preferred Membership Interests of $79 million; (5) net rental income of $78 million in GMNA; (6) royalty income of $59 million in GMNA; and (7) exclusivity fee income of $52 million in GMNA.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt

 

     Successor             Predecessor  
     Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010
    July 10, 2009
Through
September 30, 2009
            January 1,  2009
Through
July 9, 2009
 

Loss on extinguishment of debt

   $ (1                $ (1,088

 

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Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Loss on the extinguishment of debt included a loss of $2.0 billion related to the UST exercising its option to convert outstanding amounts of the UST Ally Financial Loan into shares of Ally Financial’s Class B Common Membership Interests. This loss was partially offset by a gain on extinguishment of debt of $0.9 billion related to an amendment to Old GM’s U.S. term loan.

Reorganization gains, net

 

     Predecessor  
     January 1,  2009
Through
July 9, 2009
 

Reorganization gains, net

   $ 128,155   

Old GM

In the period January 1, 2009 through July 9, 2009 Reorganization gains, net included the change in net assets resulting from the application of fresh-start reporting of $33.8 billion, the fair value of Series A Preferred stock, common shares and warrants issued in the 363 Sale of $20.5 billion, the gain on conversion of debt of $37.5 billion, and the gain from the settlement of net liabilities retained by MLC. Refer to Note 2 to the audited consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

 

     Successor            Predecessor  
     Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2010