It looks like General Motors will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in record time, with the US and Canadian governments owning 72.5 per cent of “New” GM, the union healthcare fund 17.5 per cent and unsecured bondholders 10 per cent. By streamlining its brands and operations and writing off a big chunk of debt, the restructuring plan has tackled two of GM’s structural problems.

But what about GM’s pensions? Does the restructuring plan tackle the structural problem of 670,000 plan members, $9bn (£5.4bn, €6.3bn) annual pension payments, $100bn of pension liabilities and a $14bn deficit at December 2008, or just paper over the cracks?