MICHIGAN

Analyst says GM is not near bankruptcy

DETROIT — An auto analyst with JPMorgan says General Motors Corp. is not in danger of an imminent bankruptcy, but will need to raise about $10 billion in cash to weather the downturn in U.S. auto sales.

Analyst Himanshu Patel said Thursday in a conference call that fears of a bankruptcy have been overblown. GM's shares slid to a 54-year low Wednesday on worries about the company's cash needs and speculation about a bankruptcy filing. GM shares rose 1.4 percent to close at $10.12 Thursday.

Patel said GM will likely seek more cash and announce further restructuring in the third quarter this year. But he says GM doesn't need the cash immediately, since it has enough to fund what he expects will be an $18 billion cash burn through 2009.

GM weighs selling new mini car in U.S.

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. is considering a new Chevrolet mini car for the United States as it reworks its product lineup to cope with a dramatic shift from trucks to cars linked to high gas prices.

GM spokesman Dee Allen said bringing the Chevrolet Beat, which is about the size of a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris mini car, to the U.S. is among the options that the company is studying.

"It is certainly one of the things that is being looked at from a portfolio perspective," Allen said Thursday.

The comments came as GM shares have been trading near their lowest levels in more than half a century, raising investor worries about the automaker's future and its ability to adjust quickly to demand for more fuel-efficient cars.

The Beat, to be built in South Korea, will be rolled out in other global markets faster than in the U.S., Allen said. He did not know when it might be sold elsewhere or in the U.S. The car still must be engineered to meet U.S. safety and emissions standards, he said.

GM unveiled the Beat with two other ultra-small cars as concepts at auto shows last year, saying the trio was designed to attract young buyers in urban markets around the globe.

GM currently produces the Chevrolet Aveo sedan and five-door subcompact to compete in the growing mini car market.

The Beat is a front-wheel-drive three-door hatchback powered by a 1.2-liter turbocharged gasoline engine.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Wider passport snooping hinted

An internal State Department investigation suggests that employees may have been snooping on the passport records of celebrities far more than previously disclosed, and recommends new steps to secure the files.

A report from the department's inspector general to be released Thursday says a survey of the records of 150 notable politicians, athletes and entertainers found that 127 had been accessed, some of them multiple times. The report does not say if their records had been viewed for legitimate reasons, but notes that an 85 percent hit rate seems excessive.

The probe began earlier this year after it was discovered that the files of leading presidential candidates had been improperly viewed by contract workers. The report says investigators found numerous weaknesses in the system that is supposed to protect the confidentiality of passport files and calls for 22 specific actions to improve it.

— From wire reports