General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, said that it aims to cut its pension obligation by almost one fifth by offering lump-sum payments to about 42,000 salaried retirees and shifting plans to a Prudential Financial Inc. unit, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The moves, which follow Ford Motor Co.'s planned offer of lump-sum buyouts, will eliminate about $26 billion from GM’s pension obligations, which totaled $134 billion at the end of last year. The offers are a first for Detroit-based GM, which projects second-half charges of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion and a $200 million decrease in annual pension income.
