GM: Government loans would not alter restructuring

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp would look to use its share of $25 billion in low-cost federal loans to fund investment in advanced vehicles like the all-electric Chevrolet Volt, but any funding would not alter its established restructuring plans, GM President and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said on Monday.

Henderson, speaking to the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit, said the Volt would be a clear target for funding under the federal loan program now before the U.S. Congress. But he said how much GM could borrow under the program will depend on what rules govern the industry's use of the funds.

While the government loans "certainly will help" GM's ability to fund an ongoing investment in fuel-saving technology, the funding would not cause GM to reconsider its plans for $10 billion in cash savings through 2009 or other restructuring plans under way, he said.

GM's cost-cutting includes the planned closure of four North American light truck plants. Henderson said GM would not revisit those closure decisions even if the federal loans are cleared.

"It wouldn't at all change the actions we've announced," Henderson told Reuters..

GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and other auto executives have urged lawmakers to approve funding for the $25 billon loan program, which was included as part of a 2007 energy bill setting sharply higher fuel efficiency standards for automakers. Critics have called the funding a bailout of a troubled industry.

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)

(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)