SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                           Washington, D.C. 20549-1004





                                    FORM 8-K
                   CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OF
                       THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934



          Date of Report
(Date of earliest event reported) July 8, 1998
                                  ----------------




                           GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION
            -----------------------------------------------------
            (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)




      STATE OF DELAWARE                 1-143                 38-0572515
- ----------------------------   -----------------------    -------------------
(State or other jurisdiction   (Commission File Number)   (I.R.S. Employer
 of incorporation)                                         Identification No.)




   100 Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan                 48243-7301
3044 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan                 48202-3091
- --------------------------------------------                 ----------
  (Address of principal executive offices)                   (Zip Code)







Registrant's telephone number, including area code       (313)-556-5000
                                                         --------------


















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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS

      (a) On July 8,  1998,  General  Motors  Corporation's  subsidiary,  Hughes
Electronics  Corporation,  issued a news  release on the  subject of its DIRECTV
DBS-1 satellite. The content of the news release was as follows:


                             Anomaly Noted On DBS-1

 Satellite Continues Normal Operation on Back-Up Systems; DIRECTV(R) and USSB(R)
                               Services Unaffected


      Los Angeles,  July 8, 1998 - Engineers  at DIRECTV,  Inc. and Hughes Space
and  Communications  Company confirmed today that a spacecraft control processor
(SCP) aboard the DBS-1 satellite failed on July 4, 1998. As designed, control of
the HS 601 - model satellite was automatically switched to the spare SCP and the
spacecraft is currently operating normally.

      At no time did DIRECTV's more than 3.7 million subscribers  experience any
loss of service.

      DIRECTV  maintains a redundant  infrastructure  to anticipate and mitigate
the consequences of possible satellite  failures.  In the event that the back-up
SCP on-board DBS-1 should also fail,  DIRECTV would  immediately  switch most of
the affected programming  services to the DBS-2 and DBS-3 satellites,  which are
collocated  with DBS-1 at  101-degrees  WL. In  addition,  DIRECTV  continues to
actively  pursue  other  satellite   back-up  and  fleet  expansion   strategies
consistent with its long-term business plans.

      DIRECTV is a registered trademark of DIRECTV,  Inc. USSB is a service mark
of United States Satellite  Broadcasting  Company, Inc. DIRECTV, Inc. and Hughes
Space and Communications  Company are units of Hughes  Electronics  Corporation.
The earnings of Hughes  Electronics are used to calculate the earnings per share
attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common stock.

                                 * * * * * *


                                    SIGNATURE

Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


                                            GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION
                                            --------------------------
                                                    (Registrant)
Date    July 8, 1998
        -----------------
                                            By
                                            s/Peter R. Bible
                                            -------------------------------
                                            (Peter R. Bible,
                                             Chief Accounting Officer)











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