DETROIT, Michigan - April 26, 2009 - General Motors Corp. will announce details of its massive restructuring plan on Monday, including the demise of its storied Pontiac brand, more factory closures, and bigger job cuts as it fights to avoid bankruptcy protection.

The struggling automaker must make the announcement in advance of a planned offer to its bondholders to swap debt for company stock. GM owes $28 billion to large and small bondholders, and under Securities and Exchange Commission rules, it must disclose its operational plans before making an exchange offer.

Two people briefed on GM's plan said the company has decided to close more factories than the five it announced in February. But the locations of the doomed factories will not be identified Monday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan has not yet been made public.

One of the people said GM will list specific numbers of blue-collar job cuts, and announce another round of U.S. salaried job cuts beyond the 3,400 completed last week.

Both people confirmed that the plan includes the death of Pontiac, famous for the Trans Am sports car and the GTO. Efforts in the last few years to market Pontiac as a performance-oriented brand failed to work. The company had said it wanted to keep Pontiac as a niche brand with one or two models, but is buckling under tremendous government pressure to consolidate its eight brands, several of which lose money.