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ReprintsGerman carmakers attack U.S. help for rivals
September 25, 2008 - 11:00 am ET
HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) -- The German auto industry attacked U.S. politicians on Thursday over plans to give $25 billion in low-interest loans to Detroit's crisis-stricken carmakers. "We are opponents of subsidy contests," the head of the VDA automotive industry association, Matthias Wissmann, said during the IAA truck show in Hanover. The CEO of German heavy truckmaker MAN Commercial Vehicles, Anton Weinmann, said: "That results in a distortion of competition...In the manufacturing industry, one should leave things to the free market." The U.S. House of Representatives agreed on Wednesday to fund a $25 billion loan package for troubled automakers as part of a mammoth spending bill. It is expected to pass the Senate as well. The bill sets aside $7.5 billion in taxpayer funds to guarantee loans to help struggling General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC pump out more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. Lawmakers led by Democratic Representative John Dingell of Michigan said at a news conference that they would begin work on another $25 billion auto loan provision, possibly for next year. German carmaker Daimler AG still owns a 19.9 percent stake in Chrysler but is in talks to sell it to Cerberus Capital Management, which bought the rest last year. "If the U.S. car industry does not resolve its structural problems, then all the subsidies in the world won't help," VDA's Wissmann said. |
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