Bush To Meet with U.S. Automakers
14th Nov 2006, 18:04 GMT
Detroit-based auto industry leaders are meeting with President Bush to press their concerns about health care and trade issues, while making clear that the troubled industry does not want a federal bailout. General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Tom LaSorda, president and chief executive officer of DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, were sitting down with Bush on Tuesday after months of scheduling conflicts and delays. They stress they do not want a bailout similar to the 1979 measure approved by Congress that helped preserve Chrysler Corp. Instead, they want to talk about the spiraling costs manufacturers face on health care, the advantages Japanese automakers have because of a weak yen and their work to develop alternative fuel vehicles. "We're not going into this meeting seeking specific relief for our industry," said GM spokesman Greg Martin. "We understand that we have to win in the marketplace but there are issues of national importance like health care and trade that affect the competitive balance." All three automakers spend more on health care per vehicle than steel, which adds about $1,000 to the cost of a car built by the Big Three. GM, the nation's largest private provider of health care, spent $5.3 billion on health care last year for 1.1 million employees, retirees and their dependents. Wagoner urged Congress last summer to provide a "vigorous and robust" prescription drug market, develop national health information technology and focus on high-cost, catastrophic cases among a small number of patients. The automakers have also sought support on trade, arguing that Japan's weakened yen makes imported goods from Japan cheaper. Auto industry officials also noted that China is keeping its currency artificially low against the dollar, making Chinese goods cheaper in the U.S. "It's just so important that the governments around the world...
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