DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

General Motors Corp. (GM) posted a stunning $15.5 billion second-quarter
net loss, as the auto maker piled up $9.1 billion in charges and
write-downs and suffered a deep drop in North American sales.

The company had warned in mid-July that it would post "a significant
second quarter loss." But the actual numbers were far worse than
analysts had expected, and point to the enormous challenges facing GM as
buyers turn away en masse from its most profitable offerings.

GM shares fell more than 7% in premarket trading to $10.20.

GM reported a net loss of $27.33 a share, compared with net income of
$891 million, or $1.56 a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the
loss was $6.3 billion, or $11.21 a share.

Revenue fell 18% to $38.2 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had been looking for a loss,
excluding items, of $2.62 a share on revenue of $44.57 billion.

GM's Latin American operation was a bright spot - profit rose to $445
million from $296 million. But Asia swung to loss and European profits
tumbled 94%.

Excluding charges, the North American business had a $4.3 billion loss
as revenue dropped by one-third to $19.8 billion, pushing market share
down to 20.2% from 22.7%.

A year ago, GM swung to a second-quarter profit as it relied on
continued strength in international operations and a slim profit in its
core North American automotive unit to dramatically improve its bottom line.

GM's earnings were also dented by a $1.2 billion loss from its 49% stake
in its GMAC LLC financing arm. Thursday, GMAC swung to a second-quarter
loss as it took a $716 million write-down on leases and recorded more
losses from its Residential Capital LLC unit.

Second-quarter cash levels fell to $21 billion at the end of the second
quarter from $23.9 billion at the end of the first quarter.

The dismal second quarter caps four consecutive years of disappointing
results, dating back to the beginning of 2005, when GM shocked Wall
Street with an abrupt string of deep losses. Since then, Chief Executive
Rick Wagoner has been racing to cut costs, slim down operations and
remake the vehicle portfolio.

*At the same time, Wagoner has invested heavily into emerging markets,
placing big bets in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia even as
market share dwindles at home.*

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Any bets as to when GM will abandon manufacturing in the U.S. market?