The U.S. government said this week it lost $11.2 billion on its bailout of General Motors Co., well over the $10.3 billion the Treasury Department estimated when it sold its remaining GM shares late last year.
The $11.2 billion loss includes a write-off in March of the government's remaining $826 million investment in "old" GM, according to a government report released on April 30.
The U.S. government spent approximately $50 billion to bail out GM.
Treasury cut its stake in GM through a number of stock sales, which started back in November 2010. It sold the remaining shares on December 9, 2013.
"The goal of Treasury's investment in GM was never to make a profit, but to help save the American auto industry, and by any measure that effort was successful," Treasury Department spokesman Adam Hodge said, according to Reuters.
The bailout of GM and Chrysler saved 1.5 million jobs in the U.S., according to the Center for Automotive Research.
GM posted its 17th consecutive profitable quarter last week, though earnings were hurt by a $1.3 billion charge for the costs of a number of recent recalls, including the now controversial ignition switch recall which was linked to 13 deaths.
The automaker is under investigation by the Justice Department, U.S. Securities, the Exchange Commission, Congress and a number of safety regulators over its failure to recall vehicles with the faulty ignition switches in a timely manner.
GM knew of the issue for over 10 years yet it didn't recall affected vehicles until earlier this year.
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