Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., seeking U.S. financial aid because it's running out of money, will delay incentive reimbursements to its 6,468 U.S. dealers by about two weeks to preserve cash.

The biggest U.S. automaker isn't disclosing the savings, a spokesman, John McDonald, said in an interview. Dealers were notified by e-mail today after Detroit-based GM briefed their national council on Nov. 13, McDonald said.

``One of the biggest issues facing General Motors is our liquidity,'' GM's sales chief, Mark LaNeve, wrote to dealers. ``In this cash crunch, we have examined every aspect of our business in an effort to improve cash flow.''

GM's U.S. dealers paid about $3,409 in incentives for each car and truck in October, when the company sold 168,719 vehicles, according to research firm Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. At that rate, Detroit-based GM would have spent $575 million. GM doesn't announce incentive spending.

GM is working to build support among dealers, suppliers and customers for congressional Democrats' plan to tap the $700 billion bank-rescue plan for $25 billion in auto-industry loans. Republicans want to speed disbursement of $25 billion approved earlier to help retool factories. Senate debate began today.

Appeal to Dealers

LaNeve renewed GM's appeal to dealers to petition Congress for the aid package and quicker access to the plant-overhaul loans. Congress provided the borrowing through the Energy Department to help the companies build more-efficient vehicles.

Payments originally scheduled for Nov. 28 and Dec. 4 will now be made Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, McDonald said. Automotive News reported the plan earlier today.

``We're doing this to improve liquidity,'' McDonald said. ``This shows how important government aid is to the U.S. industry.''

GM used up $6.9 billion in cash in the third quarter, and said Nov. 7 it may not have enough to pay its monthly bills by the end of this year.

Over the weekend, GM posted a video on its Web site and on YouTube that asks for support of a $25 billion bailout now to avoid costs of $156 billion in lost government revenue later.

GM rose 17 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $3.22 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have declined 87 percent this year, the biggest decline among the 30 companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Suzuki Stake

GM said today it will sell its 3 percent stake in Suzuki Motor Corp., raising 22.4 billion yen ($232 million). The U.S. company has been reducing its holdings in Hamamatsu, Japan-based Suzuki since 2001, when it owned 20 percent.

Underscoring its efforts to save cash, GM estimated that its 2007 labor contract with the United Auto Workers has trimmed $500 million in annual U.S. union costs by hiring out jobs such as janitors and gaining flexibility from remaining workers.

Yearly savings will rise to almost $4 billion in 2010, when a UAW-run trust fund takes over health-care obligations for union retirees, Tony Sapienza, a GM spokesman, said in an interview.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he will press this week for approval of the automaker-bailout plan, while the White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said such a move wasn't politically possible.

``There aren't the votes in the Senate'' to pass the Democratic measure, Perino told reporters in Washington.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that nation's government will decide on an aid request from GM's Opel unit by Christmas. Opel asked for ``somewhat more than'' 1 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in government credit guarantees, said Carl-Peter Forster, GM's Europe chief.

----With reporting by Chris Reiter and Andreas Cremer in Berlin; Alex Ortolani and Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan; and Makiko Kitamura in Tokyo. Editors: Ed Dufner, Rob Golum

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 17, 2008 17:27 EST