TIMELINE: GM approaching bankruptcy

(Reuters) - U.S. automaker General Motors Corp (GM.N) is racing to meet a June 1 deadline to radically cut debt and costs and get rid of some brands in a sweeping restructuring plan.

The U.S. government has no desire to run a domestic automaker even though in a restructuring it -- along with GM's main union UAW -- could wind up with a controlling interest in GM, the White House said on Monday.

Here is a timeline of recent events in the GM's decline:

July 15, 2008 - GM says it plans to cut costs by $10 billion, suspend its dividend and sell up to $4 billion in assets, such as its Hummer brand, in a bid to shore up cash.

-- A hurried restructuring is forced by high fuel prices, a consumer shift away from low-mileage trucks, the weakest U.S. auto sales in a decade and growing investor doubts about the automaker's ability to ride out the downturn.

November 21 - GM decides to return two of its leased corporate jets following intense criticism by lawmakers after Chief Executive Rick Wagoner flew to Washington in a private jet to ask for public funds.

December 19 - GM receives $13.4 billion in emergency government loans from the Bush administration to stave off bankruptcy and prevent a collapse.

-- The money was part of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief program (TARP). Under the loan's terms, a March 31 deadline is set for GM and Chrysler, which received $4 billion, to prove that they can restructure enough to survive.

January 15, 2009 - GM says it expects US auto sales in 2009 to drop to their lowest level in 27 years, cutting its forecast to the low end of prevailing expectations.

February 17 - GM requests an additional $16.6 billion in U.S. government loans, for a total of up to $30 billion in loans, and says it will run out of cash by March without new federal funding.

-- It also says it has not reached deals with bondholders and its major union to reduce some $48 billion in debt but will work to reach those agreements by the end of March.

-- It promises to step up cost-cutting by reducing its global workforce by 47,000 jobs in 2009 and cutting five additional U.S. plants by 2012. In addition, GM said it would cut its U.S. workforce by another 20,000 by 2012.

March 12 - GM says it has told U.S. officials it can survive without $2 billion in additional aid it requested.

March 16 - Advisers to GM bondholders say they presented a framework plan to President Barack Obama's autos task force and GM detailing its best chance for an out-of-court restructuring.

March 29 - CEO Rick Wagoner resigns under pressure from the Obama administration two days before the March 31 deadline.

March 30 - Obama orders GM and Chrysler to accelerate survival efforts and brace for possible bankruptcy, saying neither has done enough to justify the taxpayer money they seek.

-- The Obama administration gives GM 60 days to rework its survival plan. New CEO Fritz Henderson says a court-supervised restructuring in bankruptcy might be necessary.

April 8 - The Treasury says that GM has launched its supplier support programs backed by up to $5 billion in U.S. government funds.

April 15 - An investor group including private equity firm Black Oak Partners approaches GM about buying its Saturn brand assets and dealership network.

April 23 - GM says it will slash production over the next three months to cut its inventory and avoid the risk of an "uncontrolled shutdown" at bankrupt supplier Delphi Corp

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April 24 - GM draws an extra $2 billion in government aid.

April 27 - GM offers its final plan to reorganize outside bankruptcy by slashing bond debt, cutting over 21,000 more U.S. jobs and emerging as a nationalized automaker under majority control by the U.S. government and its major union.

-- Pontiac is to be phased out by the end of 2010 and GM said it could stop producing Saturn models by the end of this year. A sale of the Hummer SUV brand is still a "reasonable likelihood," CEO Fritz Henderson said.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Additional writing by Carl Bagh; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)