President George W. Bush met with the chief executives of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler at the White House in November 2006, offering verbal support for the struggling industry but declining to provide government assistance. Bush said the companies were making sound decisions to remain competitive globally.
The automakers pressed Bush on their belief that Japan deliberately undervalues the yen to give its exporters an advantage, but GM CEO Rick Wagoner acknowledged the president did not fully accept that argument. "We agreed to continue the dialogue going forward," Wagoner said.
US carmakers have been losing ground to Asian rivals, particularly Toyota, which was on course to surpass GM as the world's top automaker. High fuel costs and heavy dependence on a weakening SUV market had compounded Detroit's difficulties.
Democrats, who had just won control of Congress in midterm elections, voiced stronger support for the industry. Senator Carl Levin argued that foreign governments, not just private companies, were effectively competing against American automakers by keeping their currencies artificially low.
The auto executives said they were not seeking a bailout, but did ask Washington to expand support for ethanol production to accelerate adoption of alternative-fuel vehicles. Rising employee healthcare costs were also discussed during the summit.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.