Automakers Raise Request to $34B

Demographic key to rebuilding for US automakers

(NEWSER) - Detroit automakers face a hard road when it comes to Generation Y—consumers aged 22-32 whose business is crucial to securing the firms' futures, BusinessWeek reports. Their boomer parents broke from tradition by shifting to Japanese cars, and Gen Y is following in those footsteps. Detroit “simply must do much better with Gen Y than they did with their parents, or the comeback we keep hearing about may not happen,” says an analyst. More»

Bailout collapse leaves state fretting over future

(NEWSER) - Detroit's bailout has crashed and burned, casting a pall on Michigan's future, the Detroit Free Press writes. The state knows the pain that comes with tough times in the auto industry all too well, and it's "incredible" that any American lawmaker "could want to watch these hard times turn so much harder for so many people," notes a Press editorial. More»

(NEWSER) - A bid to provide emergency aid to automakers failed in the Senate tonight, the Washington Post reports. Negotiators nearly completed an 11th-hour deal but got hung up on union wages. Republicans wanted immediate cuts, and Democrats sought to delay them until 2011. "We're not going to get to the finish," said Senate leader Harry Reid. "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pretty sight." More»

But key Republicans threaten to block measure in Senate

(NEWSER) - Democrats reached a tentative deal with the White House on a $15 billion rescue plan for GM and Chrysler, but unsatisfied Republicans threatened to block the deal, the Detroit Free Press reports. The measure could be presented to the House tomorrow morning and passed in the afternoon. But the Senate's a different story, and Harry Reid said key Republicans may filibuster if they don't wring more concessions from the automakers and the UAW. More»

Bush supports some aid, but it must be done his way, he warns Dems

(AP) - Using the word "recession" for the first time to describe the US economy, President Bush today demanded that Congress adopt his approach to an auto bailout and require car companies to pay back any federal aid. But he displayed skepticism about the wisdom of new aid, saying he is concerned that some of Detroit's Big Three automakers may not survive. More»