Live blog: Gettelfinger ranks Detroit 3 in terms of their health

Nov 18, 2008 (Detroit Free Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- GM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Free Press automotive reporter Sarah A. Webster hosts a blog on today's critical Senate hearings on aid for the Detroit Three, which got under way at 3 p.m. The leaders of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC are on hand to face questions from members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Make sure to write in with your thoughts on the hearing as it happens.

6:30 p.m.

Under questioning from Sen. Bob Corker, D-Tennessee, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said he would rank Detroit's automakers, in terms of financial health, as: Ford, Chrysler and then GM.

Detroit's automakers also divulged the amounts they have been seeking individually. GM, about $10 billion to $12 billion, with Ford and Chrysler each seeking about $7 billion.

Corker also took on the jobs bank, which pays workers when they are on temporary layoff, and asked that the union and automakers resolve it before they come back and ask for $25 billion.

"Would you all make the pledge that to get the $25 billion you'd never be back again?" Corker said in a tense back-and-forth with Wagoner. "You're going to be back, aren't ya?" Corker implored.

Wagoner said he could make no guarantees without knowing when the economy might turn around.

5:40 p.m.

During questions for Detroit's automakers, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, continued to berate Detroit's automaker for past decisions and express his doubts Detroit's automakers could repay any loans and restructure for the future.

However, Ford CEO Alan Mulally assured that Ford could be a "turbo machine" again if it could get through the current financial crisis.

"This is a near term problem we're addressing," Mulally said.

Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli assured: "We will generate profit."

"We wouldn't be here today if we didn't have a high confidence level ... that we could come out the other side," he said.

Peter Morici, a business professor for the University of Maryland, said he agreed with Shelby that Detroit's automakers could default on any government loan.

"I'm skeptical you'll get it back," Morici said. "They are burdened by history. ... The margins in the industry are just too drastically thin."

5:15 p.m.

Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland, told the Senate committee that Detroit's automakers have been victimized by protectionist policies in foreign countries.

"Today, the Detroit three have achieved remarkable progress," said Morici, who opposes aid for Detroit. "But they still don't have costs as low as" their foreign rivals.

He said bailing out Detroit's automakers would be putting off inevitable bankruptcy filings, which he said are necessary to getting Detroit automaker's costs in line with foreign rivals.

Morici also encouraged the Senate to closely examine the trade policies that Detroit's automakers are facing as well as currency manipulations in foreign countries.

5 p.m.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and GM CEO Rick Wagoner have given their prepared remarks to the Senate committee. The group said they have already undergone massive restructuring efforts and continue to do so.

"What exposes us to failure now is the global economic crisis," Wagoner said.

If Detroit would fail, he added, "would be catastrophic."

4:25 p.m.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, gave a passionate defense of the Detroit auto industry before the Senate committee and said she would put domestic cars and trucks up against those made by any foreign automaker.

"The global financial crisis was not caused by the Detroit auto industry, and that is why we are here," she said. "We are in a severe global recession."

She asked the Senate committee whether it matters if the cars and trucks Americans drive are made in this country and whether it is important to our nation's energy and military objectives to help save Detroit's automakers.

"That's a basic decision we need to answer," she said, noting that one out of 10 U.S. jobs is related to the automotive industry.

"We have our companies competing against countries," she said.

She also said that Detroit's automakers have been doing their part to restructure for years now.

"We've been restructuring in Michigan now for a decade," Stabenow said. "I can take you on a tour of plants that have been closed."

4 p.m.

Several Republicans voiced their support for providing aid to Detroit, but only with a tough plan that ensures long-term viability.

"I believe we have to do something," Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said. "I agree we need some accountability ... Everybody is going to get hurt in the process."

"Nobody wants to see the American automobile industry fail," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, said. "I am not against helping this industry stay afloat. ... The last thing we need is additional unemployment.

3:50 p.m.

Several U.S. Senators expressed concern that the economy would head into a depression if Detroit's automakers don't get the aid they need.

Among them:

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania.

"I think the evidence is pretty clear it could head in that direction," Casey said.

"We know that potentially millions of jobs are at risk across America."

Casey called for an aggressive plan that uses this crisis as an opportunity, modernizes Detroit's automakers and holds them accountable with monthly reports.

Brown made similar remarks.

"We need to build real things, and that's what Detroit does," he said.

3:30 p.m.

Several U.S. Senators expressed support for helping the automotive industry and its workers, but said they wanted firm plans that are focused on helping Detroit survive well into the future.

And they slammed Detroit for its past failures.

Said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, criticized Detroit for trailing their competitors "in almost every category," even though that's not true. (Consumer Reports said Ford's quality is on par with that of Toyota and Honda).

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, asked if Detroit was ready to close down brands, get rid of executives and become smaller.

"What concerns me are the workers ... up and down the supply chain," he said.

Workers, he said, are "living in fear."

He said he wanted a long-term solution that ensures they will thrive in the future.

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, said the challenge is to get Detroit through the next year so that promising vehicles of the future can get to the drawing board.

3:10 p.m.

Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, opened the hearing on government assistance for the U.S. automotive industry.

"None of us relishes being here today," Todd said in his opening remarks.

However, he acknowledged that the repercussions of an auto industry meltdown "would be severe" and that Congress must consider a response.

He also took the opportunity to lash Detroit's executives, calling them "devoid of vision" and saying "they have dismissed the threat of global warming."

Despite that, Todd said he supported action to help the auto industry because the economy would be further destabilized by any failure of Detroit's automakers.

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