Ford said it raised $1.4 billion through an offering of 300 million shares of common stock, which sold for $4.75 per share.

Earlier, Ford, the only US automaker forgoing federal aid, tumbled the most since November. Shares fell $1.07, or 18 percent, to $5.01 in Big Board trading.

With 2.8 billion shares outstanding as of May 1, the new stock would be an 11 percent increase. Proceeds will go toward general corporate purposes including a union health-care fund, Ford said.

GM plunged 33 cents, or 23 percent, to $1.11, a day after reporting that six executives sold their shares in the Detroit-based company.

Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said that bankruptcy is more probable than the biggest automaker previously thought.