DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. is reporting the largest annual loss ever for a U.S. automotive company.

GM said Tuesday it lost $38.7 billion in 2007. The loss largely was due to a third-quarter charge related to unused tax credits.

The loss topped the previous record GM set in 1992, when it lost $23.4 billion. That's according to Standard & Poor's Compustat.

Separately, GM is offering a new round of buyouts to 74,000 U.S. hourly workers.

The company, eager to lower wages and staunch the kinds of losses it saw in 2007, said Tuesday it is offering a new round of buyouts to all 74,000 of its U.S. hourly workers who are represented by the United Auto Workers.

Workers will be given the details of the buyouts over the next several weeks. Most of those who accept are expected to leave by July 1, the company said.

GM won't say how many workers it hopes to shed, but under its new contract with the UAW, it will be able to replace up to 16,000 workers doing non-assembly jobs with new employees who will be paid half the old wage of $28 per hour.

Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC already have announced similar buyout offers.

GM had been offering buyouts to about 5,200 UAW workers at service and parts operations and some closed plants since December, but those workers now are eligible for the new, sweetened offer, which raises the incentive payments for retirement-eligible workers by $10,000 for production workers and $27,500 for skilled workers.

Retirement-eligible workers will be offered $45,000 for production workers and $62,500 for skilled workers to retire with their full pension and health benefits. Those workers can take the money in a lump-sum payment or take it as annual payments. They also can roll the money directly into a retirement account or 401k.

GM is giving less than Ford and Chrysler, which are offering up to $70,000 in lump-sum payments, but GM said its offer is comparable because workers who roll the money into a retirement account won't have to pay as much in taxes.