Automotive parts maker Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, saying it could not repay its debt amid a drop in U.S. auto sales.

The maker of auto body sealing systems and fluid handling systems said it had outstanding debt of about $1.17 billion.

"As a result of the severe downturn in the automotive industry and the accompanying decrease in production volumes, the company is overleveraged," Cooper-Standard said in court filings.

Cooper-Standard has received a commitment for $175 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which will help fund operations while it restructures in bankruptcy court. The Novi, Michigan, company has a commitment for an additional $25 million in the form of a standby uncommitted single-draw term loan facility.

The financing is subject to court approval.

Cooper-Standard, which employs about 16,000 worldwide, makes door, body and sunroof seals, as well as systems that move fuel and brake fluid throughout a vehicle.

The company, which blamed the faltering economy for a falloff in its finances, has $5.7 billion in debt, Chief Accounting Officer Tom Friel told The Associated Press.

A recession-linked decline in tourism is plaguing the casino industry after years of rising profits.

Most of Station's assets are maintained in casino-operating subsidies and affiliates and were not included in Tuesday's filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reno, Nev. The assets included in the filing are "nominal," Friel said. Executives said operations at the 33-year-old company will continue as usual.

Station has between 100 and 1,000 creditors, Friel said.

"This is a global economic issue that has forced us to have to go back and reset our debt," Chief Operating Office Kevin Kelley said during an interview.

"The restructuring of our debt will provide us with the financial flexibility necessary to meet the challenges of the current economic environment," Chairman and CEO Frank J. Fertitta III said in a statement. "Equally important, it will provide the resources necessary for us to continue to invest in our properties, take advantage of opportunities as they arise and ultimately enable us to emerge as a stronger company."

Struggling automotive parts supplier Lear Corp. said it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after receiving the support it needed from lenders and bondholders.

The company, which makes automotive seating systems and electronics, had been negotiating with its lenders and bondholders for additional support for its restructuring plan. It previously received a commitment for $500 million in loans to finance its bankruptcy from a group of lenders led by J.P. Morgan and Citigroup.

Lear said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Subsidiaries outside the U.S. and Canada are not part of the filings, the company said.

Lear has asked the bankruptcy court to allow it to continue to provide pay and benefits for its workers without interruption and to continue to allow it to provide payments for its U.S. and Canada pensions.

It plans to present its restructuring plan to the court within 60 days.

The Southfield, Mich.-based company's filing, which had been expected since last week, makes it the first major automotive parts maker to seek court protection since Visteon Corp., the former parts arm of Ford Motor Co., filed for Chapter 11 in May. Parts suppliers have been hammered by the recession as consumers continue to shun new car purchases and automakers slash production.

Lear's troubles stem partly from its heavy dependence on the slumping North American and European auto markets, with 36 percent of its sales coming from North America and 49 percent coming from Europe.

Lear, which posted $13.6 billion in sales for 2008, is a key supplier for both General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. The pair represent the company's two largest customers and account for a combined 40 percent of its sales.

Lear is also one of Ford's key component and service suppliers, part of Ford's Aligned Business Framework, which increases the automaker's collaboration with the companies.

General Motors cleared a major hurdle toward a quick exit from bankruptcy as a judge approved a government-backed plan to create a "new GM" that sheds major debts of the ailing Detroit automaker.

The ruling released late Sunday paves the way for a "reinvention" of GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection on June 1 and has vowed to emerge as a leaner, more profitable company once freed from its burdensome debts.

Judge Robert Gerber said he had examined about 850 objections to the restructuring plan raised by GM bondholders and others, but found there were "no realistic alternatives" to the asset sale.

"As nobody can seriously dispute, the only alternative to an immediate sale is liquidation -- a disastrous result for GM's creditors, its employees, the suppliers who depend on GM for their own existence, and the communities in which GM operates," Gerber wrote.

GM hailed the decision as "another step toward the launch of an independent new GM."

GM president and chief executive Fritz Henderson added that now "it's our responsibility to fix this business and place the company on a clear path to success without delay."

The judge said GM could implement the plan as soon as Thursday at 1600 GMT pending any additional delay imposed by an appellate court.

At least one appeal had been filed Monday, from accident victims seeking to hold the new GM accountable for any product liability damages.

Once the world's largest corporation, the new GM will emerge as a significantly smaller automaker with fewer brands and employees, and a diminished global footprint.

GM's plan seeks to follow the script of Chrysler, which spent 42 days in bankruptcy protection before emerging as a new company run by Italy's Fiat.

As with Chrysler, GM's old corporate entity will remain under supervision of the bankruptcy court, but the new GM will not be burdened by the lengthy process.

Francisco Espinosa gave United Student Aid Funds Inc. a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan saying he would pay back $13,250 on his four student loans. The recipient, USA Funds, said he owed $17,832, but it did not object to his bankruptcy plan, which was finalized in 1994.

But in 2000, Espinosa's income tax refund was taken to pay on the rest of the debt.

USA Funds says the bankruptcy agreement is void because Espinosa never proved in court that paying the full amount would cause him undue hardship.

Espinosa says the bankruptcy agreement is final and the company cannot go back on it now. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed, saying the time to object was before the bankruptcy was completed.

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.