Sunday, October 18, 2009

Obama auto plan stopped global auto collapse: exec

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The global auto industry would have collapsed if the U.S. government had not provided taxpayer-backed financing for automakers General Motors and Chrysler, according to the chief executive officer of Motors Liquidation Co (MTLQQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

"If GM had gone down, the world's supply base would have gone down," said Al Koch, speaking at the Reuters Restructuring Summit in New York. Koch was GM's chief restructuring officer during the bankruptcy and now heads the GM unit that is being liquidated.

"There wouldn't have been a manufacturer that could have completed a car, because somewhere on the car there would be a part that needs to come from a supplier that had failed," he said.

"I'm not so sure that even Lexus (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) wouldn't have suffered," said Koch. "I think that every single manufacturer would have gone down, and the cascading unemployment from that would have been catastrophic.".......

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