FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HUGHES REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2002 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Strong DIRECTV U.S. Performance for the Third Consecutive Quarter Drives Results

El Segundo,  CA - April 15, 2002  - Hughes Electronics Corporation, the world'sleading provider of digital television entertainment, broadband services,satellite-based private business networks, and global video and databroadcasting, today reported first quarter 2002 revenues increased 7.7% to$2,038.2 million, compared with $1,893.0 million in the first quarter of 2001.EBITDA1 for the quarter was $134.2 million and EBITDA margin1was 6.6%, compared with the first quarter of 2001 EBITDA of $113.2 million andEBITDA margin of 6.0%.

"For three consecutive quarters, DIRECTV U.S. hasexceeded subscriber growth expectations while delivering on its commitment toimprove the financial returns on every subscriber we add to our service," saidJack A. Shaw, HUGHES' president and chief executive officer. "Recognizing thatwe had a number of unusual items in the quarter, both positive and negative, Iam pleased that our new strategies are paying off and are resulting in strongeroperational performance,"

Shaw added, "At the top line,due to its continued strong subscriber growth, DIRECTV U.S. generated nearly$1.5 billion of revenue, representing an 11% growth rate over 2001. Even withour best-ever first quarter performance in terms of gross subscriber additions,DIRECTV U.S. had strong EBITDA primarily due to its continued aggressivecost-cutting and churn mitigation efforts. PanAmSat also contributed to ourstrong EBITDA performance with an EBITDA margin of 73%, its highest level since1999."

Included in the firstquarter of 2002 was a $95 million one-time EBITDA gain based on the favorableresolution of a lawsuit filed against the U.S. government on March 22, 1991.The lawsuit was based upon the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's(NASA) breach of contract to launch ten satellites on the Space Shuttle. Also impacting the quarter was a charge of$83 million to provide for losses associated with a contractual dispute withGeneral Electric Capital Corporation (see the Direct-To-Home Broadcast segmentfor more details). Of this amount, $56 million was recorded against EBITDA, andthe remaining $27 million was recorded as interest expense. The $95 million gain and the $56 millioncharge are included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in "Selling,general and administrative expenses." In addition, DIRECTV Latin Americarecognized an EBITDA loss of approximately $32 million due to the devaluationof the Argentinean peso.

HUGHES had a first quarter 2002 net loss of $156.4million compared to a net loss of $105.3 million in the same period of 2001.The higher EBITDA and the elimination of approximately $62 million of goodwillamortization expense in 2002 as a result of adopting the new accounting rulesfor goodwill and intangible assets, were more than offset by higherdepreciation in the Direct-To-Home segment and PanAmSat, increased net interestexpense, the discontinuation of the minority interest adjustment related toDIRECTV Latin America, and a $29 million charge related to a loan guarantee fora Hughes Network Systems' affiliate in India.

Shaw finished, "Beginning with this quarter's earningsrelease, we are providing a summary of the most important DIRECTV U.S.financial metrics. This reflects our ongoing efforts to increase the clarityand transparency of our businesses for our shareholders, the media andfinancial community."

First quarter 2002 revenues for the segment increased10.3% to $1,643.8 million from $1,489.9 million in the first quarter of 2001.The segment had negative EBITDA of $62.6 million compared with EBITDA of $6.0million in the first quarter of 2001. Included in the segment's EBITDA is acharge of $56 million to provide for losses related to a contractual disputewith General Electric Capital Corporation (GECC) associated with an agreementconsummated in July 1995 whereby GECC would establish and manage a creditprogram for consumers who purchased DIRECTV® programming and relatedhardware. The following EBITDA discussion excludes this $56 million charge.

United States: DIRECTV substantiallyexceeded subscriber growth expectations by adding 849,000 gross subscribersand, after accounting for churn, 342,000 net subscribers in the quarter.Excluding those markets in the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative(NRTC) territories, DIRECTV's owned and operated net subscriber additions inthe quarter were 350,000.

Beginning with the first quarter of 2002, DIRECTV nolonger includes pending subscribers in its cumulative subscriber base.Pending subscribers are customers who havepurchased equipment and have had all of the required customer informationentered into DIRECTV's billing system, but have not yet activated service. Thisnew policy reflects a more simplified and conservative approach to countingcustomers and is consistent with the rest of the multi-channel televisionindustry. As a result, DIRECTV reduced its cumulative subscriber base byapproximately 360,000 subscribers that had been previously identified aspending subscribers. This change has noimpact on DIRECTV's past or future revenues, EBITDA or cash flow.

DIRECTV reported quarterly revenues of $1,466 million, anincrease of 11% from last year's first quarter revenues of $1,324 million. Theincrease was primarily due to continued strong subscriber growth which morethan offset reduced average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) related to lowerpay-per-view, event and premium programming purchases.

EBITDA for the first quarter of 2002 was $85 millioncompared to EBITDA of $50 million in last year's first quarter. This increasewas due to the additional gross profit gained from DIRECTV's increased revenue,partially offset by higher subscriber marketing costs due to the record grosssubscriber additions in the quarter.

Please refer to the "DIRECTV U.S. Financial Highlights"attachment for additional information on DIRECTV's subscribers and otherimportant financial metrics.

DIRECTV DSL: The DIRECTVDSLTM service was created following HUGHES' April 2001 acquisitionof Telocity. As a result, no comparative financial data for DIRECTV DSL isincluded for the first quarter of 2001.

In the first quarter of2002, the DIRECTV DSL service added approximately 22,000 net customers. As ofMarch 31, 2002, DIRECTV DSL had about 113,000 residential broadband customersin the United States compared to about 64,000 customers as of March 31, 2001,representing an increase of approximately 77%.

The DIRECTV DSL servicehad first quarter 2002 revenues of $14 million and negative EBITDA of $30million.

Latin America: TheDIRECTV service in Latin America added 32,000 net subscribers in the firstquarter of 2002. The total number of DIRECTV subscribers in Latin America as ofMarch 31, 2002, was approximately 1,642,000 compared to about 1,406,000 as ofMarch 31, 2001, representing an increase of approximately 17%.

Revenue for DIRECTV Latin America was unchanged at $165million for the quarter compared with the first quarter of 2001 because theincreased revenue generated from the larger subscriber base and the consolidationof the Argentinean local operating company was offset by the devaluation of theArgentinean and Brazilian currencies.

DIRECTV Latin America had negative EBITDA of $61 millionin the quarter compared to negative EBITDA of $44 million in the same period of2001. The decline in EBITDA was primarily due to a $32 million loss related tothe devaluation of the Argentinean peso.

PanAmSat, which is 81%-owned by HUGHES, generatedfirst quarter 2002 revenues of $207.1 million compared with $205.2 million inthe same period of the prior year. The increase was primarily due to atermination fee of approximately $6 million associated with one of thecompany's video customers, partially offset by reduced operating leaserevenues.

EBITDA for the quarter was $151.1 million and EBITDAmargin was 73.0%, compared with first quarter 2001 EBITDA of $140.0 million andEBITDA margin of 68.2%. The increase in EBITDA and EBITDA margin wasprincipally due to the company's continued focus on operational efficienciesand several non-recurring items that were recorded during the first quarter of2002. These items included gains of $40million related to the settlement of the PAS-7 insurance claim and $6 millionfor a termination fee. These gains were partially offset by losses of $19million on the conversion of several sales-type leases to operating leases byone of the company's customers, an $11 million facilities restructuring charge,and $10 million for additional bad debt expense and sales-type lease reserves.

As of March 31, 2002, PanAmSat had contracts forsatellite services representing future payments (backlog) of over $5.7 billioncompared to approximately $5.8 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of2001.

Hughes Network Systems (HNS) generated first quarter2002 revenues of $242.8 million versus $248.2 million in the first quarter of2001. The decline was due to lower sales in the Carrier businesses primarilyrelated to the substantial completion in late 2001 of the XM Satellite Radioand Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company contracts, mostly offset byincreased sales of DIRECWAY® and DIRECTV® systems.HNS shipped 430,000 DIRECTV receiver systemsin the first quarter of 2002 compared to 252,000 units in the same period lastyear. Additionally, HNS added approximately 10,000 net DIRECWAY residential andsmall/home office broadband customers in the quarter. As of March 31, 2002,DIRECWAY had approximately 111,000 subscribers in North America compared to62,000 one year ago, an increase of approximately 79%.

Excluding a $6 million charge in the first quarterof 2002 related to headcount reductions, HNS reported negative EBITDA of $27.5million compared to negative EBITDA of $38.3 million in the first quarter of2001. The improvement in EBITDA is primarily attributable to higher operatingmargins on the increased DIRECTV receiver shipments.

From December 31, 2001 to March 31, 2002, thecompany's consolidated cash balance increased $413.7 million to $1,113.8million and total debt increased $740.1 million to $3,387.4 million. The majoruses of cash were for satellite and capital expenditures as well as the finalpurchase price adjustment payment to the Raytheon Company of $134 million.Additionally, PanAmSat received approximately $174 million from an insuranceclaim on the PAS-7 satellite.

In the quarter, HUGHES completed several financingtransactions. PanAmSat completed debtfinancing of $2.05 billion, and repaid $1.725 billion owed to HUGHES.HUGHES used the proceeds from PanAmSat torepay all amounts outstanding under the HUGHES and DIRECTV Latin Americancredit facilities.Additionally, theHUGHES facility was amended and increased to $2.0 billion, consisting of a$1.235 billion revolver, which is undrawn, and borrowings of $765 million undera term loan.As a result of thesetransactions, HUGHES believes it has more than sufficient available funding forits 2002 operating plan.

HughesElectronics Corporation is a unit of General Motors Corporation. The earningsof Hughes Electronics are used to calculate the earnings attributable to theGeneral Motors Class H common stock (NYSE:GMH).

A live webcast of HUGHES' firstquarter 2002 earnings call will be available on the company's website atwww.hughes.com. The call will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET, today. The dial in numberfor the call is (913) 981-5572. The webcast will be archived on the InvestorRelations portion of the HUGHES website and a replay will be available (dial innumber: 888-203-1112, code: 566209) beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday,April 17.

# Excludes $56 million EBITDA charge for lossrelated to GECC lawsuit

## Excludes subscribers in NRTC territories

* Excludes an estimate for the impact of thedevaluation of the Argentinean peso.

** Includes an estimate for the impact of the devaluation of the Argentinean peso.

NOTE: Hughes Electronics Corporation believes that some of the foregoingstatements may constitute forward-looking statements. When used in this report,the words "estimate," "plan," "project," "anticipate," "expect," "intend,""outlook," "believe," and other similar expressions are intended to identifysuch forward-looking statements and information. Important factors that maycause actual results of HUGHES to differ materially from the forward-lookingstatements in this report are set forth in the Form 10-Ks filed with the SEC byGeneral Motors and HUGHES.

1. EBITDA(Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is the sum ofoperating profit (loss) and depreciation and amortization. EBITDA margin iscalculated by dividing EBITDA by total revenues.

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