62 GM Innovations

General Motors Corp. was been hit with a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter, and now the automotive giant fears bankruptcy, as early as the beginning of 2009.

General Motors is going so far as to say "Detroit would collapse unless Washington gave it billions to help it buy Chrysler," according to CNN Money who also confirmed "GM said Friday it could run out of cash by year-end, absent an improvement in its fortunes."

How did this happen to GM? Were they too focused on expanding in the SUV and truck market? They were working on the electric Chevy Volt, but that’s just one car, and so far, there aren’t any zipping around on real roads.

They were innovative, and cutting edge: they connected with bloggers, even flew them to events… they even dressed in drag to try to understand their female consumers more.

With brands like GMC, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Saturn, Buick, Cadillac, GM Daewoo, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Saab, Vauxhall, and Wuling, there is huge pressure on the line.

To try and make sense of it, the slideshow below highlights some of the innovations we’ve seen from General Motors, from unique marketing approaches to fascinating car models. We’ve also included some interesting General Motors branded-projects created by customers to illustrate brand engagement, and to flesh out the study, have added not-so-flattering items , like Hummer-haters, to help explain the General Motors downfall.