Markis Coleman, 30, a GM employee at a plant in Orion Township, Mich., north of Detroit, said shortly before the bankruptcy was announced that there is little he can do even as much needs to be done.

"I'm going with the flow," the 10-year company veteran said Monday morning. "It's all in their hands. I'm going to let them do it. But they need to change things, though. They have to change."

The once-mighty corporate giant whose brands were household names and plants the lifeblood of many U.S. communities filed its Chapter 11 petition in New York Monday. It marks the fourth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company.

GM also revealed Monday that it will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others.

The closing of a metal stamping plant near Mansfield, Ohio, will force the city to cut jobs because it will lose one of its biggest employers and water customers. The plant's roughly 1,200 workers make parts for many of GM's slow-selling trucks and sport utility vehicles.

"This is so devastating," said Mansfield Mayor Donald Culliver. "We're all going through budgetary problems and this just adds fuel to the fire."

Small businesses that supply the plant also will suffer, he said. "That's what is going to hurt us even more than losing GM," Culliver said.

Rickey Holmes, 28, a Xerox contract worker for GM at its Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit, agreed that the turbulence spreads well beyond those who collect a check directly from the automaker.

GM shares lost more than 22 percent to fall as low as 87 cents in morning trading on Friday. It was the stock's lowest trade since April 18, 1933.

The symbolic decline comes just days away from a government-imposed restructuring deadline of June 1. The company is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by then, leaving shareholders virtually wiped out.

On Thursday, the automaker offered a new debt-for-equity proposal to its bondholders. The deal would give the government a 72.5 percent stake in the company but made no mention of existing shareholders.

GM has until Monday to complete a government-ordered restructuring that includes debt reduction, labor cost cuts and plant closures. But a Chapter 11 reorganization is likely after the company said its offer to exchange $27 billion in unsecured debt for 10 percent of the company's stock had failed. GM has received $19.4 billion in federal loans.

The move came as crosstown rival Chrysler LLC headed to court Wednesday to ask bankruptcy judge for permission to sell the bulk of its assets to a group headed by Italy's Fiat Group SpA in hopes of saving itself from liquidation. Attorneys for Chrysler maintain that the Fiat deal is the company's only hope to avoid being sold piece by piece, but car dealers, debtholders, former employees and others are protesting.

Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection April 30, after the government ended talks with a group of holdout debtholders. Both automakers were pulled down by overwhelming debt, high pension, health care and other labor costs relative to competitors, a global auto sales slump and a dismal U.S. housing market that pulled down demand for pickup trucks, their top-selling vehicles.

News of the failed GM bond exchange offer sent its shares down 12 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $1.32 in morning trading.

John Pottow, a professor at the University of Michigan who specializes in bankruptcy, said GM evading Chapter 11 now is almost impossible.

The justices without comment Tuesday left in place a ruling by the Tennessee Court upholding the damages against Chrysler LLC.

The lawsuit claimed 8-month-old Joshua Flax was riding in the back seat of a 1998 Dodge Caravan in Nashville, Tenn., in 2001 when the vehicle was rear-ended, causing the front passenger seat to collapse and the passenger to strike him, fracturing his skull.

A jury initially awarded Flax's parents $98 million in punitive damages in 2004, but the damages were later reduced. The family was also awarded $5 million in compensatory damages, which were upheld by an appeals court.

The third-largest U.S. automaker filed for bankruptcy protection in April.

The privately held company also reached a deal that will allow a Crown Acquisitions affiliate to buy 17 of its 25 stores, including its flagship locations in Boston and New York. The agreement is subject to a bankruptcy court auction, which is expected in about five weeks.

The auction will allow other companies to submit bids for the 17 stores, as well as for the rest of the Filene's Basement locations and the chain's other assets.

New York-based Crown, a real estate and asset management company, plans to continue running the 17 stores under the Filene's Basement name.

Buxbaum Group, a California-based liquidator, acquired Filene's last month through an affiliate company, FB II Acquisition Corp. The sale came after the previous owner, Retail Ventures Inc., said the chain was experiencing "significant liquidity problems."

Filene's Basement, known for its "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sale, was founded more than a century ago in Boston.

"We worked very hard to keep this company out of bankruptcy," one official said on a conference call with reporters. However, not all of Chrysler's secured creditors were on board with the agreement. "With reluctance, we've made the decision to go through with this surgical bankruptcy process."

Under the terms of the arrangement, Chrysler will be placed in a "quick rinse" bankruptcy, which officials expect to last about 30 to 60 days. The government will provide $3 billion to $3.5 billion so-called "debtor in possession" financing to keep the company running, and another $4.5 billion in exit financing. In addition, the Canadian government will provide $1 for every $3 of U.S. taxpayer money on the line.

The government is also replacing Chrysler's board, but it is not yet clear who the replacements will be. Officials said Chrysler Financial, the company's captive financing arm, didn't have the resources to support a restructuring. Instead, GMAC will be the company's new financing source, with support from the U.S. government. Italian automaker Fiat will engage in a partnership agreement with the company.

Fiat's stake would initially be 20%, but it could increase, in 5% increments, as it meets three government thresholds: helping Chrysler establish a distribution network outside of North America, building a fuel-efficient engine in a Chrysler U.S. Factory, and building a small car in a U.S. Factory. Once taxpayers are repaid, Fiat could boost its stake above 50%.