Chrysler Needs $5 Billion More
Might have seen this one coming.
When the Bush administration agreed in December to tap Wall Street bailout funds to help Chrysler and General Motors avoid bankruptcy, the two auto giants said that $17.4 billion would see them through March — $13.4 billion for G.M. and $4 billion for Chrysler.
Now the numbers are growing.
Chrysler today announced that it will request $5 billion in additional emergency loans from Washington. The reason is no mystery: Last month, Chrysler sales fell 55 percent relative to the previous January.
As a condition of receiving additional funding, both Chrysler and G.M. were charged with submitting viability plans to Congress by 5 p.m. today. The details of G.M.’s plan are expected to be unveiled shortly.
