Delphi Corp., the largest auto supplier in the United States, filed for bankruptcy on Saturday.

The company filed to reorganize its US operations in Bankruptcy Court in New York, where hearings are scheduled to begin next week. However, Delphi's non-US operations weren't included in the filing.

The bankruptcy is one of the largest in US history.

Delphi Chairman and CEO Robert S. Miller said the company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in early to mid-2007.

He also said that Delphi will continue to pay its 50,000 US employees and it will ship its products on schedule.

Delphi, based in the Detroit suburb of Troy, has struggled to make a profit since GM spun it off in 1999. It lost 4.8 billion dollars in 2004 and nearly 750 million dollars in the first half of this year.

The company had 16.5 billion dollars in total assets as of June 30, the most recent figure available, and has total debt of 6 billion dollars.

Source: Xinhua