DETROIT — Auditors for General Motors, in one of the bleakest assessments yet of the automaker’s prospects, said on Thursday that G.M.’s survival was in “substantial doubt” even if it received all $30 billion it hoped to borrow from the federal government.
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The report by the auditing firm, Deloitte & Touche, also raised the possibility that G.M. would have to liquidate its operations if its loan request were denied.
G.M.’s acknowledgment that it is perilously close to bankruptcy — its auditors made a similar announcement last fall — was not unexpected. But the report stirred new fears among investors, who drove down G.M.’s shares by 15 percent, to $1.86.
Deloitte & Touche laid out numerous chains of events that could result in a bankruptcy filing by G.M. The company, which lost $30.9 billion last year and has received $13.4 billion in government loans since December, made the disclosure in its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The announcement does not mean bankruptcy is imminent. But it underscores how difficult it will be for G.M. to successfully complete the restructuring plan that it filed with the Treasury Department last month.
“Our recurring losses from operations, stockholders’ deficit and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our obligations and sustain our operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern,” G.M. said in its filing.
G.M., which is seeking an additional $16.6 billion in federal loans, must prove its viability to President Obama’s auto task force by a March 31 deadline.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said the task force was well aware of G.M.’s precarious state before the auditors’ report was released.
“Obviously, I don’t think it comes as a big surprise to many that the auto industry is in crisis,” Mr. Gibbs said Thursday.
The auditors’ warning, known as a “going concern” notice, put G.M. in violation of several loan covenants, but the company said it was able to obtain waivers from its creditors. The loans could be recalled, though, if the Treasury Department did not approve G.M.’s restructuring plan.
In that case, the government also could demand immediate repayment of the money it had already lent to G.M., which G.M. said in the filing it would be unable to do.
As the economic recession drags so many companies toward insolvency, auditors are issuing going concern notices more frequently. About 60 percent of the companies involved end up filing for bankruptcy protection, said Jane F. Mutchler, an accounting professor at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business.
“In the case of General Motors, a lot of significant changes need to take place,” Ms. Mutchler said. “The auditor is supposed to look ahead one year, so they’re looking ahead one year and saying this doesn’t look good.”
G.M. said it could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection in a number of situations, including its failure to receive more federal aid or to exact concessions from bondholders and the United Automobile Workers union, or any further deterioration of an already dismal new-vehicle market in the United States.
It also said its future depended on “consumers purchasing our products in substantially higher volumes.” G.M.’s sales were down 51 percent in January and February compared with the first two months of 2008.
The word “bankruptcy” appears in G.M.’s annual report 126 times. Still, G.M. insisted that it could be viable.
“Once global automotive sales recover and G.M.’s restructuring actions generate the anticipated savings and benefits, the company is expected to again be able to fund its own operating requirements,” the company said in a statement. “The auditor’s opinion has no impact on the aggressive actions we are taking to restructure our business for long-term viability.”
G.M. has until the end of this month to reach deals with the U.A.W. and its bondholders and to show President Obama’s auto task force that it is making progress on its restructuring plan. The auditors’ warning could help G.M. persuade those groups to reach an agreement quickly.
In its filing, G.M. said it was seeking assistance from several foreign governments, including Britain, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Thailand. It said its viability plan assumed $6 billion in financing from outside the United States “plus amounts to satisfy certain legal requirements.”
Micheline Maynard contributed reporting.
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