Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) — General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, strapped for cash as sales plunge, are seeking $50 billion in federal loans to help them weather the worst auto market in 25 years, a person familiar with the matter said.
The package would be $25 billion for health-care spending and $25 billion for general liquidity that could be delivered in different ways, including short-term borrowing from the Federal Reserve, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the plan isn’t public. In return, the companies would be willing to take steps such as granting stock warrants, the person said.
We always have Europe
Ford is also among automakers approaching European governments for 40 billion euros ($51 billion) in loans, Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth told reporters today after the company posted a $2.98 billion third-quarter operating loss and said it used up $7.7 billion in cash.
Or the Hank “Do-anything-to-keep-the-economy-propped-up-slush-fund” Paulson
“Four or five” options are being considered for automakers, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters in Washington today. Those include allowing some of the $700 billion for the financial-system rescue plan to be used to aid the automakers’ financing arms, said Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat.
I can’t imagine this shell game will persist much longer.