Two down, one to go: Senate approves $25 billion for Big 3

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:29:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, Ford, GM

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill approving a $25 billion loan for the Detroit 3. Now the Senate, by a similar margin, has passed the bill, which means it needs George W. Bush's John Hancock in order for the automakers to see their funds.

The process actually began last year when Congress put the language for the loan into an energy bill, but didn't allocate the money for it. Now that the actual sum has been "found" and approved, the details of the loan and repayment need to be sorted out. The energy department has 60 days to do the math once the loan becomes law, but the Energy Secretary said it could still take 18 months or more for GM, Ford, and Chrysler to get the money.

Michigan Congressional reps have cried foul, especially because the bill also included $10 million for the Energy Department to hire outside consultants to speed things up. The department probably won't want to waste time, because Michigan Senator Carl Levine has already pledged to begin work on another round of $25 billion loans for 2009 and 2010. But when the checks finally do come, you can probably expect to see automaker reps waiting outside E-Z Check Cashing.

[Source: Detroit News]

Two down, one to go: Senate approves $25 billion for Big 3 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WSJ: Big 3 seeking $25 billion from Feds

Damon Lavrinc — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Earnings/Financials

No matter how you slice it, a proposed $25 billion loan from the Feds is a bailout, and that's exactly what Detroit's Big Three automakers are after, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Lobbyists for General Motors, Chrysler and Ford have met with White House officials, Rep. John Dingell and a smattering of Michigan Democrats to discuss the loan, with plans to unveil the proposal after Labor Day.

The plan includes lending $25 billion to automakers in its first year at an interest rate of 4.5 percent (about one-third of what the companies are currently paying), with the government having the option to defer any payment for up to five years.

Details are scarce, and naturally, GM, Ford and Chrysler reps aren't saying much, but if the automakers and the Feds are serious, expect more information to leak out before the proposal is officially announced.

[Source: WSJ, Photo by Tracy O | CC2.0]

WSJ: Big 3 seeking $25 billion from Feds originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments