GM Makes $4 Billion Pension Plan Contribution

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Dec 02, 2010, 07:30 ET

DETROIT, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Company today confirmed it has made the previously announced voluntary $4 billion cash contribution to its United States hourly and salaried pension plans, with a $2.7 billion contribution going to the hourly plan and $1.3 billion to the salaried plan.

"This pension contribution puts us another step closer to our goal of fully funding our pension plans and achieving minimal debt. With a healthy balance sheet, a lower cost structure and focus on revenue generation, we continue to put in place the fundamentals for sustainable success," said Chris Liddell, GM vice chairman and chief financial officer.

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

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

About General Motors– General Motors Company (NYSE: GM, TSX:GMM), 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