**A US judge has rejected a last minute request by a group of personal injury claimants to delay the sale of the profitable parts of General Motors.**There is now nothing to stop GM selling the best parts of the business to a government-funded “new GM”.
Once that has happened, the way will be clear for the carmaker to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
GM has scheduled a news conference in Detroit on Friday morning, but has not confirmed what it will be about.
Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected the request for a delay from a group who are pursuing a product liability claim relating to the Chevy Malibu on the grounds that delaying the sale would probably lead to the liquidation of GM.
Help from Chrysler
The emergence from bankruptcy would be unusually quick for a company the size of GM.
It has been helped by the legal precedents set in cases relating to Chrysler’s bankruptcy when opponents of the deal tried to block it.
GM filed for bankruptcy protection on 1 June, saying it would be forced to liquidate if the plan was not approved.
The new streamlined General Motors will be 60% owned by the US government.
In effect, a new, smaller GM is being created with a reduced workforce, smaller dealer network and less debt.
It will operate the best parts of the old company, including its Chevrolet and Cadillac brands. Its European operation, Opel, is being sold off.
The firm is getting $60bn (£37.3bn) in financing from the US Treasury, which gives the US government a 60% share in the “new” GM, while the United Auto Workers union will have 17.5%.
Canada’s government will have a 12% share and GM bondholders will own about 10% in the new company.