Jobs 'at risk' amid car giant woe

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The world's biggest car company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, said it will be bankrupt within months unless it gets an emergency cash injection from the US government to help it ride out the global financial crisis.

General Motors, which owns Vauxhall, employs around 5,000 workers at plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, which produce around 215,000 vehicles a year.

It needs at least £7 billion in cash to pay its bills each month, the Daily Mail reported.

The firm said it had called off merger talks with Chrysler and was asking the US government for help after using up 6.9 billion US dollars (£4.4bn) in the third quarter of 2008.

The motor industry has been hit by falling demand across the world, with sales of new cars slumping to their lowest level in 25 years.

Figures released earlier this week showed new car sales in the UK fell 23% in October compared to the same time last year.

The reduced demand for new vehicles has prompted a number of UK-based manufacturers to scale back production.

German car giant BMW announced on Thursday that production of the Mini was to be curtailed, with workers at plants at Oxford and Swindon told the two-week Christmas shutdown would be extended to four weeks this year as a result of the credit crunch.

GM said it planned to make more job cuts, including another 5,500 salaried and factory workers.