General Motors Corp

The yawning gap between the world's two biggest automakers widened Tuesday as Toyota Motor Corp. posted record fiscal third-quarter profit while General Motors Corp. introduced a new round of cost-cutting to help halt its mounting losses. "It's a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer," said analyst Shelly Lombard at GimmeCredit, a New York corporate bond research firm.

General Motors Corp. is recalling about 900,000 pickup trucks worldwide to fix tailgate cables that can corrode and break when loads are put on them. The recall involves 1999 and 2000 models of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks. Detroit-based GM said there had been 84 injuries, most of them minor scrapes and bumps. GM said the galvanized, braided-steel support cables that keep the tailgates in place can corrode or fracture over time.

General Motors Corp. cut its $89-billion U.S. pension obligation by $3.9 billion and trimmed its estimate for future spending on retiree healthcare by $19.3 billion after 34,400 workers agreed to leave. The lower estimates factor in the smaller workforce, healthcare cuts for union workers and changes in benefits for salaried employees, GM said in a U.S. regulatory filing. GM's spending obligations also were reduced by the higher discount rate it used to calculate future expenses.

General Motors' chief executive says that the sales network isn't shrinking fast enough and that the automaker wants to step up dealer consolidations. Rick Wagoner says GM aims to combine Pontiac, Buick and GMC dealerships, the Detroit News reported. General Motors Corp. reduced its dealer network by about 7%, to 14,118, from 2005 to 2007.

General Motors Corp. doubled its planned production slowdown to 20 plants as a strike dragged on at parts supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. Another Big Three automaker, Chrysler, said it might pare output next week. GM's notice brought the number of hourly and salaried employees that could be affected by factory shutdowns to about 30,000, or a third of the North American manufacturing force at the world's largest automaker.

You know things are bad when a $3.3-billion loss is cause for Wall Street celebration. That was the story for General Motors Corp. on Wednesday, after it said it lost that massive sum in the first quarter, a huge negative swing from the year-earlier period. But it was apparently encouraging enough to drive up GM shares $2, or 9.4%, to $23.20, their biggest daily gain in more than six months. Much of the loss was attributable to two large, one-time charges associated with the mortgage crisis and a bankrupt supplier.

General Motors Corp. is ending its 22-year support for Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. GM spokeswoman Kelly Cusinato called Burns "the gold standard of documentary filmmaking" but said the financial crisis "has forced GM to rein in such spending." Burns has made a string of high-profile public TV documentaries, including "The Civil War," "Jazz" and "Baseball." His last GM-backed project is "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," a six-part series airing this fall.

General Motors Corp., racing to emerge from bankruptcy, said it drove the first pre-production battery-powered Chevrolet Volt two weeks ahead of schedule. The first test drive occurred Tuesday and the vehicle was driven again Wednesday, the company said. The Volt is designed to drive 40 miles solely on electric power generated by plugging the battery into a household outlet overnight. After 40 miles, a gasoline engine keeps the battery charged.