PHOENIX -- Just weeks before a government deadline to avoid bankruptcy, General Motors is hosting a resort getaway in the Valley for 500 of its biggest customers.

• WATCH: GM Entertains Customers At Resort

It's happening at a luxury spa and golf course in the Valley.

GM reportedly paid for airfare and is treating 500 guests to a two-night stay at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa.

The guests work for rental car companies, government agencies and businesses that buy heavy-duty trucks and run fleets. The auto maker shipped in 150 vehicles to the resort for their fleet customers.

GM officials said they have scaled back the event compared to previous years. Guests now have to pay for their non-business activities, like golf and spa outings.

GM released a statement about the valley event:

"Fleet sales (commercial, government, rental) are about 25 percent of GM's business -- valuable, highly profitable business. It is important that GM maintain this business if we are to restructure ourselves and pay back the taxpayer," the statement said.

"This annual meeting introduces our 2010 products and technology to our largest, most important customers," the statement said.

GM said they sold about 866,000 vehicles to such customers last year, and said the event is intended to reach out to them and make sure they don't jump competitors.

CBS 5 News wanted to get on the property to ask more questions about the event but the resort would not allow media inside.

GM lost $6 billion in the first quarter and its revenue fell by nearly half as car buyers worldwide steered clear of showrooms out of fear that the wounded auto giant may go bankrupt and stop honoring its warranties.

The Detroit-based company also said it spent $10.2 billion more cash than it took in from January through March, mainly because revenue dropped by a staggering $20 billion, or 47 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said GM expects to need another $2.6 billion in government loans this month and $9 billion during the rest of the year. The largest U.S.-based automaker is living on $15.4 billion in federal loans and faces a June 1 government deadline to finish a restructuring plan or enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Young said talk of bankruptcy is scaring some consumers away from buying GM vehicles. Detroit rival Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection last week.

"We cannot cut costs fast enough to offset that revenue loss," he said. "People are concerned about bankruptcy, and that's the reason why we want to avoid it if at all possible."

The "revenue implosion," he said, was due largely to GM's effort to cut inventories, reducing production by 900,000 vehicles globally, or about 40 percent. Also included was $3.5 billion in currency exchange costs because the U.S. dollar strengthened.

The company also cut low-profit sales to fleet buyers, Young said.