Each Player in Big Three to Bring Its Own Plan

While G.M. will lay out specific changes in its future business plans, Ford is expected to detail its efforts to transform itself from primarily a manufacturer of larger vehicles into a producer of smaller, more fuel-efficient passenger cars.

Both G.M. and Ford are using up more than $2 billion in cash a month, but Ford has greater cash reserves — $18.9 billion compared with $16.2 billion at G.M. — and a $10.7 billion line of credit from private banks to carry it at least through 2009.

Because it is in better financial shape, Ford is not asking for an immediate infusion of government money. Instead, the company will seek access to about $7 billion in federal aid only if its own cash runs out.

“Our position is different,” Ford’s executive chairman, William C. Ford Jr., said in a recent interview. “Our position is what we’d like to have is access to a line of credit if we need it. And we hope not to need it.”

Still, people familiar with Ford’s strategy say the company is mulling whether to offer concessions to gain Congressional support — including cutting Mr. Mulally’s salary.

Of the three automakers, Chrysler may have the most difficult case to make for government assistance.

Because its majority owner, Cerberus Capital Management, is a private firm, Chrysler is not required to make public financial data like revenue and earnings.

During the last hearings, Mr. Nardelli revealed under questioning that Chrysler was spending more than $1 billion in cash a month and had already studied the possibility of filing for bankruptcy.

In an e-mail message to employees last week, Mr. Nardelli said its explanation for how it would use $7 billion in government loans was a simple one. “In short, the money would be used to support our ongoing operations,” he wrote.

But to get support from lawmakers, Chrysler will probably have to open its books to Congress and lay out its longer-term business plans.

“We have to know what the financials are internally, particularly Chrysler, since it’s a private company,” Ms. McCaskill said.

Chrysler is expected to reiterate its overall strategy to pursue alliances and partnerships with other automakers to defray the costs of developing new vehicles.

The company had been in merger talks with G.M. until Nov. 7, when G.M. canceled the discussions to focus on its own deteriorating financial conditions.

People knowledgeable about Chrysler’s plan said Mr. Nardelli might suggest that a merger was still the company’s best opportunity to survive long term.

Executives from all three companies have said that setting a positive tone at the hearings is critical to winning support from lawmakers.

After coming to the previous hearings seemingly unprepared, the Big Three will go into detail on gains they have made in cutting jobs and plant capacity, developing more fuel-efficient cars and investing in alternative technologies like electric vehicles.

But the companies will mostly focus on their own efforts to change, rather than their collective transformation.

People close to the Big Three said there were no plans yet for the chiefs of G.M., Ford and Chrysler to share details of their testimonies with one another. And each company has been assured by Congressional leaders that any proprietary information will be kept confidential.

Copyright © 2012 The New York Times

---

< Prev | 1 | 2