"Today, the Democratic leadership discussed how to protect hundreds of thousands of workers and retirees, safeguard the interests of American taxpayers, and use cutting-edge technology to transform blue-collar jobs to
green-collar jobs for generations to come."

She had told the Wall Street Journal Thursday she was open to providing additional assistance to the automakers as soon as next month, but insisted the aid should be tied to improving the competitiveness of the Detroit Three.

"I don't think you'll see much interest" in helping the industry, if aid goes toward "doing things the old way," Pelosi said.

Executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler as well as the president of the United Auto Workers union also asked Pelosi to speed up the delivery of the loan guarantees during the meeting Thursday.

To press the case, the automakers planned to go over all the actions they've taken in the last two years to speed up the development of cleaner and more efficient vehicles," GM spokesman Greg Martin said.

"Right now, it all comes to a stop if they can't get help for the industry to get through this period," Martin told AFP.
In a statement to emphasise the advances of US automakers, Ford CEO Alan Mulally described how Ford "is delivering quality that is now on par with Honda and Toyota."

"Our new Fusion hybrid will have better fuel mileage than the Toyota Camry hybrid," he said.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said after the meeting that "it is essential that the federal government act to prevent further damage to a critical industry which supports billions of dollars worth of economic activity in cities and towns all across the country."

"The US Treasury and the Federal Reserve can help immediately," he said.

The meeting came a day before GM and Ford were to report significant third-quarter losses and days after US auto sales sank to their lowest levels in 25 years.

The Detroit Three have already undertaken several massive restructuring programs in response to a steady loss of market share to Asian rivals. That loss accelerated in recent years as high fuel prices shifted demand away from the gasoline-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles which had propped up their profits.

Then the credit crunch hit and auto sales plummeted. Even consumers with good credit found it hard to get loans, as did the automakers whose credit ratings have fallen to junk status amid bankruptcy fears.

GM has lost nearly 70 billion dollars from 2005 through the first half of this year while Ford's losses since 2006 topped 24 billion over the same period.

Chrysler is privately owned but like Ford and GM has been losing billions and laying off large chunks of its workforce.

The current cash burn poses a real threat to the survival of the automakers, said Dave Cole, chairman of the Center For Automotive Research.

"The likelihood of one or two of the Detroit Three manufacturers ending operations is very real," Cole said.

"To permit any of the Detroit Three manufacturers to collapse would scar the US economy further at a time when it can ill afford another blow."

Cole said a bailout would cost the government less than what it would spend on paying the unemployment benefits of the tens of thousands of workers who could lose their jobs.

But it's still unclear how much help the automakers will get and what form it will take, said Laurie Harbour-Felax of the Harbour-Felax Group.

It is likely that any bailout would kill a potential merger of GM and Chrysler, she said.

Both the UAW and the senior senator from Michigan have openly opposed the merger which could result in the loss of an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 jobs at Chrysler and an untold number at GM.