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Amid General Motors Corp.’s bankruptcy filing, a sense of relief came from local politicians and auto workers.

Analysts hadn’t expected the Wentzville plant — GM’s only facility that builds full-size vans — to be on the closure list released Monday.

Still, recent upheavals in the auto industry left workers nervous about any pending announcement.

"Obviously, there’s relief that we were on the safe list," said Tom Brune, a representative for United Auto Workers Local 2250, which represents more than 1,700 hourly workers at Wentzville. "It’s still sobering to hear the finality of the (bankruptcy) announcement."

On Monday, GM — the world’s largest automaker until Toyota overtook it last year — followed its Detroit rival Chrysler LLC and filed for Chapter 11 in a Manhattan bankruptcy court. The plan will allow GM to whittle itself into a leaner company by selling its "good" assets to a new GM and liquidating the remaining assets. The new company could be launched in 60 to 90 days.

The 100-year-old automaker will rely on $30.1 billion in financing from the U.S. Treasury to help with the restructuring process, on top of about $20 billion it already received.

The court filing listed the company as having $82 billion in assets and $173 billion in debt. It will be the fourth-largest bankruptcy ever, smaller than WorldCom but larger than Enron.

Once the sale of assets is completed, the U.S. government — which President Barack Obama called a "reluctant" shareholder — will own 60.8 percent of GM’s common stock. In exchange for this equity stake and $2.1 billion in preferred shares, the government will cancel all but $6.7 billion of debt that the automaker owes the U.S.

But the President said his administration will not control GM’s day-to-day operations and will only weigh in on major corporate decisions.

Meanwhile, the Canadian and Ontario governments will contribute $9 billion in exchange for $400 million in preferred shares and a 11.7 percent common equity stake.

The remaining owners would be the UAW-controlled retiree health care fund, which will own 17.5 percent, and then unsecured bondholders and other creditors will get the remaining 10 percent.

Meanwhile, two St. Louis companies were among GM’s top 20 unsecured creditors.

GM owes Clayton-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car more than $33 million for vehicles that Enterprise bought under a "repurchase agreement," an Enterprise spokeswoman said. The agreements called for GM to buy back the vehicles at a pre-determined price, and GM has assured Enterprise that it will honor those payments.

Maritz Inc. of Fenton, another area creditor, is owed $25.6 million. That includes bills for customer satisfaction research and "continuous improvement training" for GM dealerships, as well as for meetings, events and incentives. A company representative said Maritz is confident GM will pay its debts and continue to use the company in the future.

The precedent that Chrysler set by its own bankruptcy process has paved the way for GM, said John Pottow, a University of Michigan law professor who is an expert in bankruptcy and commercial law.

Chrysler’s bankruptcy judge approved the sale of assets to Fiat SpA on Sunday night, 31 days after Chrysler’s first filing on April 30. Pottow said that suggests GM’s 60- to 90-day goal is possible.

Months of unprecedented drops and uncertainty have delivered GM to this point.

The global economic recession, credit availability problems and low consumer confidence walloped all automakers, domestic and foreign, in late 2008 and into this year. But GM and Chrysler, criticized for portfolios laden with gas-guzzling pickups and sport-utility vehicles, were among the deepest hit. Both automakers received government loans in December payday loan.

In March, the Obama administration forced out Rick Wagoner, the automaker’s chief executive since 2000, and it gave GM a June 1 deadline to complete restructuring out-of-court or file for bankruptcy. In recent weeks, the automaker made dramatic changes that included:

— Announcing in April plans to phase out the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010.

— Notifying 1,100 "underperforming" dealerships last month that it would not renew their franchise agreements when the contracts expire next year.

— Getting concessions last week from the UAW and secured bondholders.

As part of its restructuring plan, GM also identified 12 manufacturing plants and three distribution centers it plans to close by December 2011. Two additional plants, an engine facility in Massena, N.Y., and a stamping plant near Grand Rapids, Mich., previously were named for closure.

GM already has been moving equipment and operations from the to-be-closed Grand Rapids stamping plant to Wentzville, plant manager Rex Blackwell said. He wasn’t sure how many workers will transfer from the Michigan plant but said it would be less than 30.

Unlike Chrysler, GM would not use the bankruptcy process to end dealership contracts early, but it has decided to cut about 200 more dealerships, company spokesman Terry Rhadigan said Monday. It will notify those dealers some time this week, he added.

It’s still unclear how many St. Louis area GM dealerships will be affected. GM did not release a list, saying it would let dealers decide to make their status public. It also allowed dealers to submit appeals until Sunday, Rhadigan said, but he did not have a time frame for when decisions would be finalized.

"There really isn’t very many of these reversals," but the automaker must let its dealers try, GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson said at a news conference Monday.

GM wants to have 3,600 dealerships by next year, down from more than 6,200 in 2008. Consolidation with other locations, the sale or termination of car brands and voluntary shutdowns will help to pare down the network.

The challenge facing the remaining GM dealers is convincing consumers that vehicles discounted by a financially-strapped corporation will somehow hold their value, said Erich Merkle, an auto analyst based in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"If the price is equal to another brand, then why not buy a car from a dealer who is not in bankruptcy?" he said.

Merkle predicted GM’s post-bankruptcy sales won’t follow the lead of Chrysler’s sales figures.

"The only reason (Chrysler) sales stabilized is because Chrysler is unloading its inventory" from dealers that will lose their franchises on June 9, he said.

Tony Ziegler, general sales manager at Weber Chevrolet in Creve Coeur, doesn’t think bankruptcy will discourage buyers.

Chrysler’s court process has helped the public understand bankruptcy protection, he said.

"People are figuring out that it’s not that big a deal," Ziegler said.

Warranties for new GM vehicles, like those from Chrysler, are backed by the federal government.

Ziegler worries the bankruptcy could have a short-term impact on inventory but believes GM and the auto industry will persevere. One customer, he said, has already placed an order for the Volt, the all-electric GM vehicle slated to hit showrooms in 2010.

"Nobody is walking down (Interstate 270) yet," Ziegler said. "They’re still driving. There’s still traffic out there."

Jeremiah McWilliams, and Tim Bryant of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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