Detroit ? General Motors drew closer to bankruptcy Thursday, acknowledging that its revenue fell by nearly half as car buyers worldwide steered away from showrooms for fear that the auto giant would not be around to honor its warranties.

The company lost $6 billion in the first three months of the year. The results were bad enough to bring a warning from Chief Financial Officer Ray Young, who acknowledged the difficulty of climbing out of a steep decline even if the company cuts costs.

“Once you start losing revenue, you get yourself into a vicious circle in which you cannot recover,” he told reporters on a conference call.

GM is living on $15.4 billion in federal loans and faces a June 1 government deadline to finish a restructuring plan or join Chrysler in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company would prefer to restructure out of court, but even its own executives say the obstacles are formidable.