GM and Ford, Hungry for Cash, Pledge Assets to Secure Loans

"I assured these leaders that the government is addressing rising health-care costs through a variety of initiatives that I think over time are going to make a significant difference," Mr. [Bush] said. The executives said the president did agree, however, that he and the auto makers should...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
Main Author Jeffrey C. McCracken, John D. Stoll and John D. McKinnon
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 15.11.2006
EditionEastern edition
Subjects
American dollar
Automobile industry
Balance sheets
Cash flow
Collateral
Corporate debt
Corporate finance
Credit ratings
Employers
Executives
Financial restatements
Health care expenditures
Lines of credit
Loans
Presidents
Rating services
Reinsurance
Stockholders
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Summary:"I assured these leaders that the government is addressing rising health-care costs through a variety of initiatives that I think over time are going to make a significant difference," Mr. [Bush] said. The executives said the president did agree, however, that he and the auto makers should "study" how high-cost care of "catastrophic" health problems is insured. Gina Proia, a GM spokeswoman, said the move is intended to "enhance" the company's liquidity. "Given our credit rating, secured loans are the most cost-effective way of funding," she said. "We see it as a prudent move." She said GM has total debt of $32.8 billion, the majority of it unsecured. On other matters, the president and the car makers appeared to agree that U.S. manufacturers continue to be unfairly shut out of some Asian markets. Mr. Bush, who travels to Vietnam this week for a meeting with Asian leaders, promised to raise the auto executives' concerns. "My message to our trading partners is, just treat us the way we treat you," Mr. Bush said in his post-meeting summary. "Our markets are open for your products, and we expect your markets to be open for ours, including our automobiles."
ISSN:0099-9660