Smaller General Motors is a 90-Day Wonder

It seems like longer, but General Motors emerged from bankruptcy just 90 days ago.

GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson today provided an update for reporters and auto industry analysts, with an emphasis on milestones towards shrinking GM to a lower breakeven point.

For instance, GM's dealer inventory was only 424,000 units, down from 582,000 at the end of the second quarter. If anything, that has created some shortages. Accordingly, GM's fourth-quarter production will be 655,000, up from 533,000 in the third quarter.

At the same time, GM is in the process of closing U.S. factories, from a total of 47 in 2008, to 41 by the end of this year.

Henderson said GM would like to have all or nearly all of its bankruptcy-related reorganization done by the end of 2009.

GM's newly appointed board of directors is spending less time on restructuring and more time on "winning in the marketplace," Henderson said. "The push is to move fast on all the fronts, I wouldn't single out one," he said.

The company is also moving ahead with plans to cut the GM dealer network, from 6,375 at the end of 2008, to about 5,800 at the end of the third quarter, with a target for the end of next year of around 3,600.

On top of years of job cuts, GM has also reduced its salaried work force this year by about 18 percent, to 24,300. Hourly employment has also been cut 21 percent this year to 49,200.

Henderson said the next major milestone for GM, assuming it gets past its major restructuring actions, will be to take the company public again, probably in the second half of next year.

"Business performance is the most important criteria for us," he said.

Chart: GM