Once the world's largest corporation, General Motors sold more vehicles than any other automaker from 1931 through 2007, after which it lost the crown to Japan's Toyota. Hit by falling sales amid a steep US recession, GM was forced into a government-backed bankruptcy reorganization on June 1, 2009. It emerged a little more than a month later with a debt pile of 48.4 billion dollars. The automaker transferred its main assets to a new government-supported car company under a plan financed by the administration of President Barack Obama and the Canadian government. The US government owns a 60.8 percent stake in General Motors Company and the Canadian and Ontario governments have an 11.7-percent holding. The United Auto Workers union's retiree health care trust fund owns 17.5 percent. The White House said last week it is confident that GM will pay back the entire 50 billion dollars of public money invested in the company to bail it out.