GM sale hearing continues today

NEW YORK (AP) — A hearing to determine General Motors' fate will continue today, with the automaker expected to face more objections to its plan to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company and quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Attorneys, bondholders, consumer groups and others packed a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday to hear about five hours of testimony by GM CEO Fritz Henderson, who said the No. 1 U.S. automaker's sale is necessary to get GM back on its feet quickly. Henderson cautioned that the government could walk away from the deal if the sale doesn't close by July 10.

Parties were expected back in court at 8 a.m.

General Motors Corp., whose June 1 filing for bankruptcy protection was the fourth-largest in U.S. history, is hoping to avoid a lengthy sale hearing that could postpone its emergence from Chapter 11. Last month, objections from a group of bondholders and others dragged out rival Chrysler LLC's sale hearing for three days.

Despite U.S. Judge Robert Gerber's urging for the attorneys to keep their arguments concise and to avoid redundancies among their questioning, the Tuesday hearing dragged on as a parade of lawyers made their way up to the podium to question Henderson.

"I think people have forgot why we're here and what we have to accomplish," Gerber said sharply after several tedious hours of testimony. "I'm not going to deny anybody due process, but I expect the questioning to be more focused."