Ameriška avtomobilska industrija bi od države rada 25 milijard dolarjev.
“Without immediate bridge financing support, Chrysler’s liquidity could fall below the level necessary to sustain operations,” said Robert L. Nardelli, the chairman of Chrysler.
His comments were echoed by G.M.’s chairman, Rick Wagoner, who warned that the rippling impact of the auto industry’s cash woes could put three million American jobs at risk.
He said that a failure by G.M., Ford or Chrysler would rapidly bring the entire domestic industry down. “The societal costs would be catastrophic — three million jobs lost within the first year, U.S. personal income reduced by $150 billion and a government tax loss of more than $156 billion over three years,” Mr. Wagoner said.
Alan R. Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, added, “If any one of the domestic companies should fail, we believe there is a strong chance that the entire industry would face severe disruption.”
We face an unprecedented financial calamity, energy crisis and environmental threat. A vibrant, growing U.S. automobile industry should play an essential role in solving all three. The technologies that will win the day are in sight; industry has already made important advances. A partnership with government is vital and should begin this week.
Is GM “too big” to fail? I do not believe the company is too big to go into a reorganization-which is what bankruptcy would involve. Such reorganization would abrogate its untenable labor contracts, and give it a chance to survive in long run. A bailout, by contrast, would simply postpone the needed reforms in these labor contracts, the business model of GM, and its management.
“It’s my belief that we need to provide assistance to the auto industry,” Obama told veteran correspondent Steve Kroft. “But I think that it can’t be a blank check.”
The Senate is expected to vote this week on emergency loans to the auto industry, though the measure faces strong opposition from many Republicans. The bill would authorize loans to the auto industry from the Treasury Department’s $700 billion fund to bail out the financial services industry.
Mr Paulson told the committee that the White House remained firmly opposed to dipping into the $700bn fund to provide the three main US car firms with the $25bn rescue package they are seeking.
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