In a lunch meeting at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, Bank of America Corp. CEO Ken Lewis (pictured) said he would only favor a bailout for cash-leaking Big Three automakers General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co. if it were to
yield major consolidation in the industry. "The Big 3 is one too many. ... I think the American people are suspect of just giving more money and buying more time. They want to see that the companies have in fact changed and the strategies have changed," Detroit News quoted Lewis as saying.
Everyone has an opinion about the once thriving American auto industry. Also on Tuesday, General Electric Co. chairman Jack Welch, in the a column he writes with his wife Suzy, called for a bankruptcy restructuring for both GM and Chrysler, with the federal government as the debtor-in-possession lender.
The Washington Post thinks
GM will not be allowed to fail. It says no president, in the end, would risk this massive shock to a fragile economy, which has seen a Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy and a cut of more than 63,000 workers by banking giant Citigroup Inc. Still, GM's chief Rick Wagoner -- along with his counterparts -- has a lot of convincing to do in Congress this week if he hopes to reap any of the $700 billion bailout. Any money the automakers do receive would likely come with more than a few concessions.
In the meantime, the struggling giants are trying to squeeze some cash out of existing assets. This week, GM
sold its remaining 3% stake in Suzuki Motor Co. back to the minicar specialist for $230 million, and Ford said it is
cutting its 33.4% stake in Japan's Mazda Motor Co. by about 20%, possibly netting around $540 million. -
Baz HiralalSee the Detroit News story
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