GM Completes Contribution of 60.6 Million Shares of GM Common Stock to Its U.S. Pension Plans

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Jan 14, 2011, 07:30 ET

DETROIT, Jan. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) today confirmed it has completed the previously announced voluntary contribution of 60.6 million shares of GM common stock to its U.S. hourly and salaried pension plans, valued at approximately $2 billion. There were 40.4 million shares contributed to the hourly plan and 20.2 million shares to the salaried plan. This contribution completes the estimated $6 billion contribution that was announced in October, consisting of $4 billion in cash and $2 billion in stock.

"We continue to take the steps necessary to lower our risk profile, so our focus can be on designing, building and selling the world's best vehicles," said Chris Liddell, GM vice chairman and chief financial officer.

The contributed shares qualify as a plan asset for funding purposes immediately, and will qualify as a plan asset for accounting purposes once certain transfer restrictions are removed in the near-term.

All of the company's U.S. pension plans were last remeasured concurrently on December 31, 2009 for GM's 2009 Form 10-K, and were underfunded in total by $17.1 billion. Information on the 2010 year-end remeasurement and funded status for all its U.S. pension plans will be included in the company's 2010 Form 10-K.

GM U.S. pension plans currently provide benefits to approximately 688,000 participants.

About General Motors:

General Motors, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. GM's largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Russia. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

In this press release and in related comments by our management, our use of the words "expect," "anticipate," "possible," "potential," "target," "believe," "commit," "intend," "continue," "may," "would," "could," "should," "project," "projected," "positioned" or similar expressions is intended to identify forward-looking statements that represent our current judgment about possible future events. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any events or financial results, and our actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors. Among other items, such factors might include: 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 planning significant investment in new technology; our ability to realize successful vehicle applications of new technology; and our ability to comply with the continuing requirements related to U.S. and other government support.

GM's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q provides information about these and other factors, which we may revise or supplement in future reports to the SEC.

SOURCE General Motors