Fritz Henderson, chief executive of General Motors (GM), has said that the company needs to get out of the bankruptcy court as soon as possible in order to prevent many of its suppliers from going out of business. “Many of GM’s suppliers are already in the midst of a severe liquidity crisis, which has only been exacerbated by the current shutdown of certain GM production facilities,” Henderson said.

At stake are thousands of jobs in supplier companies. GM has shut 11 of its plants for close to 3 weeks in order to cut production and slash inventory. GM filed for bankruptcy on June 1 and is awaiting court approval to sell its assets to a reorganized company. According to the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, at least 15 auto parts suppliers including Visteon Corp, Metaldyne Corp and Noble International Ltd., have either filed for bankruptcy or had their assets seized by creditors in 2009. Henderson said the company’s plan to resume operations at some plants by July 13 could be hit if the court does not approve GM’s asset sale.