From the Wall St. Journal:
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday presented turnaround plans to Congress that suggest GM is in a more dire situation than previously thought.
As part of a renewed bid to win backing for a government bail out, GM requested a total of $18 billion in federal loans -- $6 billion more than it said it would a few weeks ago -- and added it needs an immediate injection of $4 billion to stay afloat until the end of the year.
The urgency of GM's request stirred up new worries that GM may have to file for bankruptcy protection. In Detroit on Tuesday, top officials from the United Auto Workers union said at a meeting that GM could be forced into a Chapter 11 filing before Christmas if the auto maker fails to get government funding in the coming days, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
Today has been a horrible day for U.S. automakers, with Ford, General Motors and Chrysler reporting 31-47% declines in sales for the month of November. (The high mark, a 47% decline, was for Chrysler). Japanese automaker Toyota reported a similar number.
With automobile manufacturing being such a huge part of our economy, drops in demand of 30, 40 or more percent are a big problem.
So ...
What's it going to be?
Where's the money at for America automakers?
Nancy? Harry?
This is not something that is going to wait for the Obama administration to be sworn in.
And if GM needs $4 billion just to survive until Christmas, how will $18 billion carry them over through all of 2009, when auto sales will likely be even worse?
We just ain't getting any breaks here.