GM Says It May Not Have Enough Cash to Operate This Year

General Motors Corp., seeking federal aid to avoid collapse, said it used $6.9 billion in cash in the third quarter and may fall below the minimum it needs to operate before the end of this year.

GM said it will be near its minimum threshold for operating cash for the remainder of 2008 and will be ``significantly short'' of that level by the end of June without an improvement in market conditions, a major asset sale or access to new loans or cash support. GM has said it needs at least $11 billion in cash to pay its bills each month.

``GM is making a pretty direct plea for help,'' said Pete Hastings, a fixed-income analyst at Morgan Keegan Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee. ``The message is, `we've done all the things we can do, and we need help.' And if we don't get help, fill in the blank.''

Merger talks are being suspended, GM said. The company had been in discussions about a tie-up with Chrysler LLC, people familiar with the plans had said.

Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner and the CEOs of Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler met yesterday with U.S. House and Senate leaders as the automakers seek $50 billion in new government aid, a person familiar with the proposal said.

The third-quarter operating loss was $4.2 billion, or $7.35 a share, GM said today in a statement. Including a non-cash, $4.9 billion one-time gain related to unloading retiree medical bills, the biggest U.S. automaker had a net loss of $2.5 billion, compared with a $38.9 billion year-earlier loss on a tax-accounting charge.