GM, Chrysler Should Come Back 'Leaner, Meaner' -Obama

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Barack Obama said Saturday he hopes General Motors (GM) and Chrysler emerge "leaner, meaner, more competitive" when the U.S. economy recovers, but he steered clear of mentioning a possible GM bankruptcy.

Obama talked about the health of the auto industry in an interview with C-Span television the day after the U.S. Treasury pumped an additional four billion dollars into GM, raising the total in bailout loans to more than 19 billion dollars.

"My hope is that we will see both GM and Chrysler having emerged from this restructuring process leaner, meaner, more competitive with a set of product lines that appeal to consumers -- good cars that are fuel efficient and that look at the markets of tomorrow," Obama said.

Although total US auto sales this year were projected at 10 million vehicles, the market should expand to as much as 14 or 15 million when the economy recovers and consumers look to replace "the old clunker," he said.

"You are looking at a substantial market that is going to be available for U.S. auto makers if they've made some good decisions now, and if they are building the kinds of fuel efficient, high performance cars that American consumers are hungry for," he said.

"I think GM and Chrysler can do that."

GM is due to present the government with a restructuring plan by the end of the month, but the company's chief executive has said it is likely to require taking the company into bankruptcy. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection April 30.

Obama made no mention of the bankruptcy option, but expressed concern about the fall-out in job losses by auto workers.

"We're confident that they (GM and Chrysler) can emerge and take advantage of that new market and actually be very profitable and thrive, but it means going through some pain now," he said.

"The thing I worry about most is that so much of that pain is borne by workers and communities that have historically been the backbone of the auto industry and so we're going to have to work intensely with those communities.

"If some of those auto jobs don't come back, then what we're going to have to do is make sure that those workers are effectively retrained," he said.