"New GM" ready to exit bankruptcy

By Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors on Friday prepared to exit bankruptcy with the message that a leaner and meaner automaker ready to win back American consumers and pay back taxpayers has emerged from its failure.

A whirlwind 40-day bankruptcy for GM was expected to conclude with the closing of a deal to sell key operations and core brands, including Chevrolet and Cadillac, to a new company that will be majority owned by the U.S. Treasury.

Chief Executive Fritz Henderson and Ed Whitacre, a veteran telecommunications executive and incoming chairman, were set to appear at a news conference 9 a.m. ET at the automaker's Detroit headquarters to mark the launch of that "new GM."

The automaker's U.S. sales dropped 36 percent during June when it was mired in bankruptcy and executives said the relaunch of the company offered a chance to try and break that negative association for consumers.

"I'm very much looking forward to the point where we're operating in the clean air and the name of the company not being associated with bankruptcy," GM sales chief Mark LaNeve said on Thursday.

Henderson, who took over as CEO when his predecessor Rick Wagoner was ousted by the Obama administration at the end of March, has already detailed plans for a faster-moving and less-bureaucratic company with thinner executive ranks.

GM is cutting its white-collar work force by more than 20 percent by eliminating 6,000 jobs by October. The reduction in executive ranks will slice deeper, with 35 percent planned.

That bid to shake up GM's long-criticized corporate culture will be a key issue for Henderson as the 100-year-old automaker seeks to relaunch itself.