US carmaker General Motors was expected to exit bankruptcy Friday under the control of the US government, emerging from the court process about 40 days after becoming the largest US industrial firm ever to seek protection from its creditors, according to dpa. Chief executive Fritz Henderson is scheduled to give a press conference at 9 am (1300) GMT, when he is likely to announce that GM has sold its best assets into a new company to be majority-owned by the US Treasury. The near-unprecedented government takeover comes after a New York judge approved the plan on July 5, but gave opponents until Thursday to appeal his ruling. US President Barack Obama's administration had set its own ultimatum of Friday for the sale to go through. A group of Arizona accident victims filed a last-minute appeal Thursday, fearing that a post-bankruptcy GM will not be liable for their personal-injury claims. But The Wall Street Journal reported the appeal would not block the sale. GM's speedy bankruptcy has surprised most analysts. Even the White House predicted a two to three month process when GM first filed for insolvency on June 1. Once the world's largest carmaker, GM will emerge from the process a much smaller company. The Detroit manufacturer will leave behind a series of brands that are being sold or discarded, including Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Opel and Saab. The streamlined GM hopes to make a profit by 2012 in a smaller US market. Car sales have plummeted more than 35 per cent since October, as the financial crisis plunged the wider US economy into its worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Treasury is set to get a 60-per-cent stake in the "new" GM in exchange for some 50 billion dollars in loans. The Canadian government, which has also provided billions of dollars, will get 12 per cent. A union health care trust will take 17.5 per cent and previous bondholders will get the remaining 10 per cent to forego their debt. GM's reorganization plan has been challenged by some bondholders, dealerships and labour unions that hoped for a better deal through liquidation. But all have so far been blocked by the bankruptcy judge, who warned Sunday that GM's collapse would be a "disastrous result" for the entire automotive community.
