[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.20]Economics Report. [00:04.74]This week, [00:05.79]General Motors went to bankruptcy court. [00:08.77]It became the second of the big three [00:11.65]American automakers [00:13.53]to seek protection from its creditors [00:16.45]while continuing operations. [00:18.87]Chrysler declared bankruptcy [00:21.41]on April thirtieth, [00:23.04]though its plans to leave the process quickly [00:26.11]still await final rulings. [00:28.79]General Motors led the auto world [00:32.15]for seventy-seven of its one hundred years. [00:36.06]Last year Toyota took the lead. [00:39.09]Not all of G.M.is losing money. [00:42.45]Asia and Latin America [00:44.96]have provided growth and profit. [00:47.84]But lately bankruptcy [00:50.05]became less and less of a surprise. [00:53.04]G.M.was one hundred seventy-two [00:56.41]billion dollars in debt. [00:58.46]Now creditors will learn [01:00.74]who gets repaid and how much. [01:04.07]The bankruptcy is America's fourth largest, [01:08.04]but the largest for a manufacturer. [01:10.73]G.M.hopes it will be quick. [01:14.16]The government plans [01:16.06]to invest thirty billion dollars, [01:18.44]on top of an earlier twenty billion. [01:21.67]In return,taxpayers will own sixty percent [01:26.43]of a smaller G.M. [01:29.12]Canada and the United Auto Workers union [01:32.69]will also own part of the restructured company. [01:37.05]But President Obama made it clear Monday [01:41.11]that he wants to limit the intervention [01:43.95]in what some now call "Government Motors." [01:48.72]"In short,our goal [01:50.25]is to get G.M.back on its feet, [01:51.80]take a hands-off approach [01:53.08]and get out quickly." [01:54.25]Is all that possible? [01:56.20]Experts say one concern is that [02:00.11]lawmakers will try to control company decisions [02:03.91]like where to build new factories. [02:06.92]Another concern is that [02:09.44]trade partners may consider the G.M.rescue [02:13.68]a form of government support [02:16.24]barred by free trade agreements. [02:19.31]Only one of Detroit's big three, [02:22.41]Ford Motor Company,is not taking aid. [02:26.42]Yet other countries, [02:28.69]especially in Europe, [02:30.47]have acted to save jobs [02:32.79]in their own car industries. [02:35.41]University of Michigan transportation researcher [02:39.52]Bruce Belzowski says [02:41.21]one big question [02:43.10]is what effect employee morale will have. [02:47.06]Employees must believe in the new G.M. [02:51.24]And,of course, [02:52.64]its products must satisfy the public, [02:55.75]as well as new government rules [02:58.50]for fuel economy. [03:00.23]To reduce costs, [03:02.98]G.M.plans to close more factories [03:06.38]and cut more jobs [03:08.53]by the end of two thousand eleven. [03:11.12]And it wants to cut more than [03:14.23]one thousand dealerships [03:16.84]by the end of next year. [03:18.79]Chrysler wants to quickly dismiss almost [03:23.12]eight hundred dealers across the country. [03:26.04]The automakers defended their plans Wednesday [03:30.26]as Congress heard from angry dealers. [03:33.78]G.M.plans to sell or discontinue its Saturn, [03:39.09]Saab and Pontiac lines. [03:42.04]And it may sell its Hummer brand [03:45.18]to a heavy equipment company in China. [03:48.59]And that's the VOA Special English [03:52.30]Economics Report, [03:53.94]written by Mario Ritter. [03:55.77]I'm Steve Ember.