Hyundai Motor denies report about GM offer

SEOUL, May 14 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, denied
Thursday an earlier report that it had been offered by General Motors Corp. to
buy a brand of the ailing U.S. automaker.
GM, which is seeking to sell its Saturn and Saab brands, had recently sent a
letter to Hyundai proposing to sell one of the brands to the South Korean
carmaker, the Herald Business newspaper reported.
"The report is groundless," said an official at Hyundai. "We hadn't received any
offer from GM."
The world's major automakers are racing to make alliances after Chrysler LLC, one
of Detroit's Big 3 automakers, filed for bankruptcy, while bankruptcy risks for
GM also loom on the horizon.
GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson said it is "more probable" that the
crisis-hit auto giant will file for bankruptcy by June 1, the deadline set by the
U.S. government for GM to enact painful restructuring measures or face
bankruptcy.
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