With Car Czar Delayed, Automakers Spin Wheels

Experienced or not, decisions from Obama's task force will come this week

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s auto task force will back new loans for General Motors and Chrysler but will ask for more sacrifices from unions, management, and GM’s bondholders, the Wall Street Journal reports. GM and Chrysler have requested $22 billion more atop the $17.4 billion already loaned to them. The stakes are high; 140,000 autoworkers, more than 10,000 dealerships, and the entire Rust Belt await the task force's decisions, expected tomorrow or Monday. More»

GM and Chrysler, both facing collapse, woo more taxpayer dollars

(NEWSER) - With the specter of bankruptcy looming over General Motors and Chrysler, President Obama’s auto team is in Detroit today as it considers whether to give the companies $22 billion more in bailout cash, the Wall Street Journal reports. The field trip will include visits to production and engineering facilities and a meeting with the United Auto Workers. More»

Treasury could double the injection as it moves closer to majority stakeholder

(NEWSER) - The Treasury is prepared to inject another $7 billion into GMAC as the first stage in a new bailout that could double to $14 billion, putting the government on a trajectory to be the majority stakeholder in both GMAC and General Motors by year's end, the Wall Street Journal reports. GMAC, which provides fleet financing for dealerships as well as consumer financing for car-buyers, needs to increase reserves by $11.5 billion to offset exposure to troubled subprime lending assets. More»

(NEWSER) - Chrysler and GM could end up needing a “considerably higher” amount than the $21.6 billion so far requested, Bloomberg reports. Steven Rattner, who heads President Obama’s auto task force, said it's possible the request could go as high as $40 billion. He also said that Chrysler’s mention of a merger with Fiat is a “worthy idea” because the company is “just kind of barely making it” alone. More»

Obama taps financier Rattner as lead in GM, Chrysler restructuring

(NEWSER) - Steven Rattner has been named chief adviser to the panel tasked with restructuring GM and Chrysler, Reuters reports. The financier was considered the frontrunner to be "car czar" before President Obama opted for a panel rather than a single chief. Rattner, who will leave the private equity firm he co-founded to take the position, is still expected to play a central role but without direct oversight. More»