GM fears up to $11 billion Delphi tab

The Detriot News reports:

General Motors Corp.'s liability for pensions and benefits due workers at bankrupt Delphi Corp. could run as high as $11 billion, the automaker said in its first detailed response to Delphi's Chapter 11 filing.

But GM also said that it may owe nothing to Delphi's union work force, setting the stage for a showdown on the issue with Delphi, its biggest supplier, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The role of GM in Delphi's historic bankruptcy filing is unclear on many fronts, none more so than what the No. 1 U.S. automaker owes thousands of union workers formerly employed by GM before it spun off Delphi as a separate company in 1999.

In a statement released late Saturday, GM said it "is not presently able to estimate the amount, if any, it may ultimately pay under the benefit guarantees due to the foregoing uncertainties."

However, the scope of its potential liability, GM said, was enormous.

"The range of GM's contingent exposure extends from there being potentially no material financial impact to the company ... to approximately $10 (billion) to $11 billion at the high end, with amounts toward the midpoint being considered more possible," the company said.

GM spokeswoman Toni Simonetti said Sunday "the $11 billion figure was a worst-case scenario."

It's the first time GM has put a potential price tag on the cost of post-retirement benefits for the majority of Delphi's 24,000 UAW workers and 12,000 union retirees.

You haven't seen the low in GM's stock price.