General Motors Posts $6 Billion Q1 Loss

General Motors has once again posted a massive quarterly loss, coming up short to the tune of $6 billion for Q1 of ’09. That is roughly the equivalent of the value of 473,000 Chevy Aveos.

The company burned through $10.2 billion during the period, lowering its cash reserves to $11.6 billion from $14.2 billion at the end of ’08. The difference was made up by loans from the Federal Government which amounted to $13.2 billion.

General Motors has now posted seven straight quarterly losses and in total has dropped into the red on an annual basis since 2004 – for a staggering total loss of $84 billion. For those keeping score that amounts to a loss roughly equivalent to the value of 1.3 million Escalades.

Naturally, North America accounted for the largest amount of the total loss with $3.2 billion in that region, while the smaller European market still posted a significant decline of $2 billion.

In Asia GM posted a relatively small $21 million loss, compared to a profit of $310 million the year earlier.

The only region to manage a profit was the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, with $16 million in profits compared to $500 million in profits in Q1 of ’08.

The news continued to batter GM’s stock as shares dropped 10.3 percent yesterday to just $1.66. Those numbers are, however, somewhat irrelevant now as GM plans to offer up to 60 billion new shares in a reverse stock split that would help the company pay off its debt. That move would reduce GM’s stock value to less than 2 cents.

The only positive news out of Q1 is that the company’s efforts to reduce production have resulted in a decreased inventory of 105,000 vehicles, for a total of 767,000 vehicles.

Still with a June 1st bankruptcy deadline looming Chapter 11 is looking like a given.

[Source: Automotive News]