GM says has "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue

“If we (the company) will be unable to continue as going concern, we could be forced to seek relief through filing under U.S. bankruptcy code,” GM added.

The company proposed additional loans from the U.S. government and hopes to receive loans of up to $7.7 billion, the statement added.

U.S. auto sales in February fell to a worse-than-expected rate and so low that the U.S. Treasury will face pressure to give more money to General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC or let them fail, Bloomberg earlier reported analysts as saying.   �

Industry sales plummeted 41 percent in February to a 9.1 million vehicle annual rate, the lowest since December 1981, according to Autodata Corp. GM, surviving with the aid of government loans, reported a 53 percent drop.

At that level, nearly every automaker is struggling and GM and Chrysler, which are requesting a total of $21.6 billion in additional loans from the U.S. government, said they would likely require the full amount.

MARKET SELL-OFF

GM’s statement intensified a sell-off in global markets, with the Turkish lira extending its losses against the U.S. dollar, falling below the key 1.76 level to hit its weakest level since March 2003.

European shares extended losses late Thursday morning after the announcement as the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 2.1 percent.