AP PhotoAuto industry executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner; Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli; and Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the state of the auto industry.

WASHINGTON -- A plan to give troubled U.S. automakers billions of dollars in government-backed loans is on life support, leaving the fate of hundreds of thousands of workers and Detroit's once-venerable car companies hanging in the balance.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., canceled plans Wednesday for a vote on a bill to carve $25 billion in new auto industry loans out of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund. The Bush administration and congressional Republicans have rejected Democrats' plan to dip into that pot of money.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A quarter-century ago, Michigan's monthly unemployment rate hit 17 percent and so many laid-off workers left the state that bumper stickers asked, "Will the last one leaving Michigan please turn out the lights?"

Fears of a replay now have residents feeling even gloomier in this hard-hit industrial state where the Detroit Three are headquartered.

The Big Three automakers are taking a page out of their unions' playbooks as they deploy grassroots tactics to drum up public support for the proposed $25 billion auto industry bailout, which is on precarious ground in Washington, D.C.

"Mobilize Now!" cries a Web site created by General Motors Corp. at GMfactsandfiction.com. "Tell your U.S. senators and representatives that support for the U.S. auto industry is in America's best economic interest."

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Ailing U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. said Thursday it will stop production at its Thai plant for up to two months, joining other global vehicle manufacturers in cutting production as the global downturn hits sales.

The truck assembly line at the plant in the eastern seaboard province of Rayong will close for one month from mid-December while the passenger car assembly line will shut for two months from late November, said Chartchai Suwanasevok, director of public relations at GM Thailand.

WASHINGTON -- Mention a corporate bailout in the nation's capital these days and chances are someone will offer a harsh condition to go along with it. Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Lately, the term "prepackaged bankruptcy" has been gaining currency in the halls of Congress as lawmakers struggle with pleas for help from the auto industry.

LOS ANGELES - Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., said Wednesday he foresees a big push by automakers to bring pure-electric vehicles to market, predicting that 10 percent of all vehicles globally will be electric by 2020.

"The reality today is there are zero electric cars on the market," Ghosn said. "There is a trend toward electric cars, no doubt about it. ... In many countries, people want to make themselves more independent from oil, and second, want to be able to have a more environmentally friendly product."

AP PhotoA 2009 Nissan 370Z is seen on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES - While U.S. automakers scale back their presence at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Nissan Motor Co. was determined to make a splash, unveiling three new vehicles Wednesday.

Nissan debuted its 2009 370Z, the first redesign of the roadster since its reintroduction as a 2003 model. Al Castignetti, vice president and general manager of Nissan North America's Nissan division, said the vehicle is lighter with a shorter wheelbase than its predecessor. It's 3.7-liter V-6 engine produces 332 horsepower, 26 more than the last model.

AP PhotoThe Chevrolet Volt all-electric concept car is seen on display at the GM exhibit during media previews for the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday. The show opens to the public on Friday.

LOS ANGELES - Chrysler and General Motors are still showing off their newest vehicles at the Los Angeles Auto Show, but their displays were noticeably quiet Wednesday while Asian and European companies unveiled new models that will likely chip away at the U.S. market share.

Casting a shadow on the annual event's glitz was the absence of press conferences or new vehicle debuts from GM or Chrysler, whose top executives were in Washington pleading for $25 billion in loans they say the need simply to stay in business.

WASHINGTON - The Senate's top Democrat has called off a planned vote this week on a $25 billion auto industry bailout.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that he wanted to figure out some way to help Detroit's struggling Big Three but that efforts to do so had stalled.

AP PhotoChrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli, right, accompanied by General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON -- A Democratic Congress, unwilling or unable to approve a $25 billion bailout for Detroit's Big Three, appears ready to punt the automakers' fate to a lame-duck Republican president.

Caught in the middle of a who-blinks-first standoff are legions of manufacturing firms and auto dealers -- and millions of Americans' jobs.

U.S. auto companies employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 other people have jobs producing the materials and parts that go into cars. About 1 million on top of that work in dealerships nationwide. If just one of the auto giants were to go belly up, some estimates put U.S. job losses next year as high as 2.5 million.

AP PhotoA Senate vote on an automotive bailout plan, which would also extend jobless benefits, could come as early as Thursday, but it currently lacks the support to advance. Sen. Reid hopes to lower expectations for legislation this week.

WASHINGTON -- Top Senate Democrats suggested Wednesday that a bill to rescue the Detroit Three automakers was stalled and challenged the Bush administration to take steps to save the industry if congressional efforts falter. The White House quickly rebuffed the suggestion.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada sought to lower expectations of reaching a deal on the $25 billion proposal before Congress quits for the year.

While he told the Senate he still hoped lawmakers could agree to an auto deal in the "next day or two" of the current lame-duck session, he added: "If we can't do it here legislatively, I would hope that the secretary of Treasury would listen loud and clear because they could take this into their own hands and do what I think is appropriate from their perspective."

AP PhotoAuto industry executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner; Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli; and Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, take their seats on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday prior to testifying before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on the automotive industry bailout.

WASHINGTON - A Democratic Congress, unwilling or unable to approve a $25 billion bailout for the Detroit Three, appears ready to punt the automakers' fate to a lame-duck Republican president.

Caught in the middle of a who-blinks-first standoff are legions of manufacturing firms and auto dealers -- and millions of Americans' jobs -- after Senate Democrats canceled a showdown vote that had been expected Thursday. President George W. Bush has "no appetite" to act on his own.

An open letter to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman:

Dear Tom:

I've long admired your thought-provoking writing on Iraq, climate change and energy. You didn't win all those Pulitzer Prizes for nothing.

And I continue to be amazed by how you single-handedly convinced us the world is flat with your 2005 book on globalization.

But -- and you knew this was coming -- a recent column in which you portrayed Michigan's automakers and its congressional delegation as a bunch of obstructionist knuckle-draggers was about as relevant as whitewall tires in the current debate over whether the domestic automakers are worth saving.

In your Nov. 11 column, headlined "How to Fix a Flat," you wrote the Detroit Three automakers are laggards when it comes to innovation.

TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will reduce production in the United States to cope with slowing sales in the world's largest economy.

Toyota will stop production at all its plants in the U.S. and Canada for two extra days in addition to the regular Christmas holidays next month, and cut about half of 500 temporary workers at a plant in Georgetown, Ky. by March, company spokeswoman Kayo Doi said.

Beginning January, Japan's top automaker plans to reduce production of the Sienna minivan at its Indiana plant, and slow a line for the Camry and Avalon sedans at the Kentucky plant, Doi said.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- While U.S. automakers plead for emergency loans from Washington, China's still-young car manufacturers are also appealing for their government's help amid a sales slump.

That support, they say, could come in the form of subsidies for technology development, easier-to-meet standards and better protection from intensifying competition.

"China is the last booming market nowadays, and foreign automakers are investing more money and building more factories here, threatening our own businesses," Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Automobile Industries Holding Co., a partner with Hyundai Motor Co. and Daimler AG.

WASHINGTON -- In an increasingly anxious campaign for a $25 billion government rescue, Detroit's Big Three car makers and their allies in Washington are warning the demise of the auto industry will damage U.S. national security.

That argument is a hard sell.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC long ago exited the defense business. While many of their suppliers also make the parts used on military vehicles and would be hit by the wave if one of the Big Three collapsed, defense experts see little immediate risk to the armed forces beyond paying higher prices.

WASHINGTON -- Hayden Elder's beaver pelt cowboy hat delivered his message to lawmakers as starkly as anything else did: The proposed $25 billion federal loan to keep the U.S. auto industry breathing is a local issue.

Elder, who sells Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps in Athens, Texas, is part of a posse of several dozen dealers from across the country blanketing congressional offices this week. They want legislators to view the plan not as a bailout of Detroit's Big Three automakers -- not a popular sell with the whole country hurting -- but a way to prevent pillars of thousands of local communities from crumbling.

DETROIT - Chrysler LLC needs immediate federal help or its cash could fall short of the amount needed to stay in business, CEO Robert Nardelli told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

At the end of the third quarter, Chrysler had $6.1 billion in cash, but during that July-September period, it spent $3 billion more than it took in, Nardelli told senators questioning his company's request for government aid.

AP PhotoTreasury Secretary Henry Paulson, left, accompanied by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington before the House Financial Services Committee.

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Tuesday that the administration remains firmly opposed to dipping into the government's $700 billion financial bailout fund for a $25 billion rescue package for the Detroit Three automakers, no matter how badly they need the help.

"There are other ways" to help them, Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee as the bailout bill clung to life support on Capitol Hill.

Committee members grilled Paulson on the administration's stance that the $25 billion must come from separate legislation passed in September that Congress designed specifically to help auto manufacturers retool their factories so they can make more fuel-efficient vehicles.

WASHINGTON - The CEOs of the Detroit Three automakers didn't get much respect when they pulled up at the nation's money pump asking for a $25 billion fill-up.

Senators weren't in much of a mood to talk about it Tuesday, at least not without a heavy dose of sarcasm.

WASHINGTON -- The head of Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday the company is working hard to "transform our business" into a more profitable one that meets 21st century demands for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Ford's chief executive officer, Alan Mulally, said he'll make that argument to the Senate Banking Committee as the country's Big Three automakers plead anew for federal financial assistance.

MARYSVILLE, Mich. - Chrysler LLC and German auto parts supplier ZF Friedrichschafen AG have struck a deal for ZF to run a new Chrysler axle factory north of Detroit.

The German company will own the equipment at the new factory, while Chrysler will own the building and employ its 350 workers.

Ford PhotoFord says the V-6 engine has 210 horsepower and the V-8 version has 315 horsepower.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. tries to revive its classic Mustang muscle car with a makeover for the 2010 model year that debuts at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show.

Tuesday's introduction comes as the Dearborn automaker and U.S. rivals General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC struggle with plunging sales and a severe financial crisis.

Ford sold 83,557 Mustangs in the U.S. in the first 10 months of the year, down 30 percent from 118,959 in the same period of 2007. Overall company sales fell 18 percent in the period to 1.66 million.

The 2010 Mustang has what the company calls a "new muscular, sculptured exterior," along with larger wheels, adjusted suspension and more power.

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) _ General Motors has put three new models for China on show in the aspiring auto industry hub of Guangzhou.

GM is maneuvering to keep its edge in a market vital to its future as it struggles for survival back home.

TOKYO (AP) _ Ford Motor Co. is slashing its stake in Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. by nearly two-thirds, joining other struggling U.S. automakers in selling prized assets to stay afloat.

Ford, which owns 33.4 percent of Mazda, will sell about a 20 percent stake, the companies said in a separate statements.

The sale would net Ford some 52 billion yen ($540 million) based on the closing price of Mazda's shares Tuesday. The shares rose 6.4 percent to 184 yen amid media reports of a coming sale.

WASHINGTON -- Prospects dimmed on Monday for the $25 billion bailout that U.S. automakers say they desperately need to get through a bleak and dangerous December.

Though all sides agree that Detroit's Big Three carmakers are in peril, battered by the economic meltdown that has choked their sales and frozen loans, the White House and congressional Democrats are headed for stalemate over how much government money should go toward helping them.

DETROIT - Cash-strapped General Motors Corp. said Monday it will delay reimbursing its dealers for rebates and other sales incentives, an indication that the company is starting to have cash-flow problems.

Company spokesman John McDonald said payments due Nov. 28 will be delayed for two weeks until Dec. 11, while those due Dec. 4 will be paid Dec. 18. The normal weekly schedule will resume after that. He would not say how much money the company will save from the delays.

WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans alike want to impose stiff conditions on any bailout of the auto industry, from limiting executive compensation and outlawing dividends to demanding union concessions.

That's a sharp contrast to the big bank bailout, in which Congress and the Bush administration set few restrictions.

WASHINGTON - Judging from the lobbying lineup, legislation to bail out the auto industry should be assured of passage.

But it isn't, a case of conventional wisdom seemingly turned on its head as one administration gives way to another and an expiring Congress limps toward the exits.

WASHINGTON - Prospects dimmed on Monday for the $25 billion bailout that U.S. automakers say they desperately need to get through a bleak and dangerous December.

Though all sides agree that Detroit's Big Three carmakers are in peril, battered by the economic meltdown that has choked their sales and frozen loans, the White House and congressional Democrats are headed for stalemate over the government money that might go toward helping them.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush White House stressed Monday that it supports help for the struggling auto industry, but believes it should not be taken from the $700 billion financial system rescue program.

As lawmakers were returning to a lame duck session to focus on the troubled industry, President Bush's chief spokeswoman issued a statement saying the administration "does not want U.S. automakers to fail." She complained that reporting on the White House's on this issue has involved "attempts to shorthand the administration's position."

TOKYO -- Cash-strapped General Motors Corp. will sell its entire stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for 22.37 billion yen ($230 million), the automaker's latest move to stay afloat while awaiting a decision on government aid for the industry.

Suzuki said Monday it would buy back the 3.02 percent stake from the American auto giant, which is seeking a $25 billion government lifeline, together with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, to weather the deepening economic crisis.

Hit by the worst sales slump in more than 25 years and frozen credit, GM has warned that it might not survive through year's end without the U.S. government's financial support.

WASHINGTON -- Hardline opponents of an auto industry bailout branded the industry a "dinosaur" whose "day of reckoning" is near, while Democrats pledged Sunday to do their best to get Detroit a slice of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue in this week's lame-duck session of Congress.

The companies are seeking $25 billion from the financial industry bailout for emergency loans, though supporters of the aid for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have offered to reduce the size of the rescue to win backing in Congress.

WASHINGTON - Top Republican senators said Sunday they will oppose a Democratic plan to bail out Detroit automakers, calling the U.S. industry a "dinosaur" whose "day of reckoning" is coming. Their opposition raises serious doubts about whether the plan will pass in this week's postelection session.

Democratic leaders want to use $25 billion of the $700 billion financial industry bailout to help General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Saturday that workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy.

"The focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract," Gettelfinger told reporters on a conference call, noting the labor costs now make up 8 percent to 10 percent of the cost of a vehicle.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Facing an uphill battle in Congress and stiff opposition from President George W. Bush, supporters of a government bailout for the sinking U.S. auto industry are offering to reduce its $25 billion size.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, battered by an economic meltdown that has choked their sales and frozen credit, are lobbying lawmakers furiously for an emergency infusion of cash. GM has warned it might not survive through year's end without a government lifeline.

WASHINGTON - Running out of time and scrambling for votes, supporters of a $25 billion government bailout for the teetering U.S. auto industry offered Friday to scale down the rescue package in the face of an uphill fight in Congress and determined opposition from the White House.

Battered by an economic meltdown that choked off sales and froze credit, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler LLC are urgently seeking an emergency infusion of cash. GM is spending down its operating cash at a rate of $3.1 million an hour and has warned it might not survive through year's end without a government lifeline.

AP PhotoThe discount available is posted on the side of an unsold 2008 Suburban at a Chevrolet dealership in Denver on Sunday. Shares of General Motors plummeted to their lowest point in more than 60 years Monday, Nov. 10, 2008, on growing fears of overwhelming debt and what a government intervention might mean for shareholders.

DETROIT -- In recent months, General Motors has been burning through about $3.1 million an hour, or $52,000 -- the price of a well-equipped Chevy Tahoe SUV -- every minute.

How much longer can this go on? And perhaps more important, can GM hang on until Barack Obama and the new Congress can come to the rescue?

Automotive News, an influential Detroit-based weekly publication and Web site, today issued an e-mail alert with a strongly worded warning about what's at stake in a federal bailout of General Motors Corp.

The editorial is a sharp rebuke to those who say the automaker, which could run out of cash by year's end, would be better left to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It comes ahead of testimony the leaders of the Detroit Three and the United Auto Workers union plan to give to Congress next week.

AP PhotoYolanda Germany checks the door molding on Chrysler's new 2009 Dodge Ram pickup being assembled at the Warren Truck Plant in Warren.

WASHINGTON -- It's the last call for a multibillion-dollar bailout from Congress, and business and labor groups are eagerly lining up for their share.

With votes scheduled in the Senate next week on a $25 billion emergency loan package for the Big Three carmakers, a wave of lobbyists are clamoring for action. The measure -- to be considered in a postelection congressional session -- offers them what is likely their final chance to squeeze money out of Congress before year's end.

AP PhotoManhattan Institute President Larry Mone, left, introduces President George W. Bush prior to the president speaking on financial markets and the global economy on Thursday.

WASHINGTON -- The White House is throwing support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in loans to troubled automakers but is rejecting a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout for car companies.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino says the Democratic proposal would lead to partisan gridlock because the $700 billion rescue package was never intended to help automakers and shouldn't be now. For that reason, she told The Associated Press that the White House is now actively asking Congress to accelerate loans it first approved in September.

PARIS -- French automaker Renault said Friday it will cut production at five sites after sales in October plunged more than 14 percent from a year earlier amid fallout from the financial crisis.

Renault said it would temporarily close two production sites in France and two in Spain for at least 11 days between now and Jan. 3. It also plans to close a site in Romania for 17 days in November and December.

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is preparing to offer car buyers employee pricing, plus cash rebates, on most 2008 and 2009 models as part of a year-end clearance sale starting next week.

A person briefed on the incentives says the offer will start Wednesday and run through Jan. 5. It will exclude 2009 F-series pickups. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the incentives have not been publicly announced.

George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst, said Friday that he can't comment on future sales promotions, but that the automaker is planning a year-end sales event just like many other manufacturers.

The offer comes as tight credit and economic uncertainty have dragged U.S. auto sales to their lowest rate in 25 years. Ford's sales in October fell 30 percent from a year earlier.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate's senior Democrat is asking the top Republican to allow votes next week on new emergency loans for the Detroit Three automakers and more jobless aid to the unemployed.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote to GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Friday asking him to clear Republican roadblocks to passing the package in a postelection session that begins Monday.

Reid says aid for the auto industry and jobless is "especially urgent."

McConnell has not taken a public position on such a plan. He is calling instead for a measure that would speed release of a separate $25 billion loan package for the carmakers approved in September to help them develop fuel-efficient vehicles.

WIESBADEN, Germany -- Automaker Adam Opel GmbH, which is owned by General Motors Corp., said Friday that it will seek loan guarantees from German authorities as the financial crisis grips European car makers.

The company said it would seek guarantees for an unspecified amount from the federal government and from the governments of Hesse, Thuringia, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine Westphalia, German states where it has facilities.

AP PhotoSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, seen here in Washington on Nov. 6, said Monday that Senate Democrats are working to secure Republican cooperation for a auto bailout bill.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats will take up a bill to extend $25 billion in emergency loans to the auto industry on Monday and plan a test vote on it two days later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday as supporters scrambled for votes to break an expected filibuster by opponents.

Supporters expect to need between a dozen and 15 GOP votes to attach the measure to a $6 billion bill the House passed in October that would extend jobless benefits. So far, however, they had only one firm commitment, from Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, a state with several auto plants and manufacturers of auto supplies.

"Right now, I don't think there are the votes" for the auto rescue, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said Thursday.