Is This the End of the Road for GM?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Since its swift exit from bankruptcy protection in July, GM has proclaimed that it would pay back $6.7 billion in rescue loans to taxpayers and creditors earlier than expected. GM seemed to have gotten its act together.

But its effort to shed debt burdens and re-emerge as a stronger and leaner new GM already has suffered two big setbacks.

In September, after months of negotiations, GM's attempted sale of Saturn to auto retailer Penske Automotive(PAG) failed. Despite pouring resources into saving the Saturn brand, GM was told by Penske that it would terminate the deal after the board of an unidentified automaker rejected the idea of producing cars under the Saturn name. Now GM will pour valuable financial resources into closing its Saturn division. Saturn dealerships have until October 2010 to wind down their operations.

Then, just days ago, GM suffered another blow when its negotiations to sell Saab to Swedish specialty maker Koenigsegg Automotive ran out of steam six months after they were announced. GM has already incurred a $912 million charge from write-downs on Saab's value earlier this year. If GM can't find another buyer for Saab, it will lose more cash when it shuts down Saab plants and dealerships in Sweden.

GM is bleeding money; the hemorrhaging appears chronic; skeptics are starting to wonder whether the new GM is anywhere near in sight. They look at these recent setbacks and think that the writing is on the wall. Do you? Take our poll below, and see what TheStreet has to say.

Do the failures of the Saturn and Saab deals spell the end for GM?
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-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York

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