Task force chief: Government won’t run automakers

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. government will not use its stake in General Motors to make social policy such as offering more fuel-efficient vehicles or limiting auto emissions, the head of a task force overseeing the industry said Wednesday.

Task Force Chairman Ron Bloom told reporters that the management of GM and Chrysler will be left to their boards of directors. He says policies such as corporate average fuel economy standards or carbon-dioxide emissions regulations will be made separately by the Obama administration and will apply to the entire auto industry.

GM and Chrysler have received a total of $65 billion in federal aid, and both have emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The U.S. government owns 61 percent of GM and about 10 percent of Chrysler with the Canadian government.

Bloom, speaking at an industry conference in Traverse City, Mich., where he is on a panel about government intervention in the auto industry, also said the government is not considering further aid to auto parts suppliers at this point.

Suppliers have been under extreme financial stress as auto sales have declined in the recession and auto companies have cut production.

But Bloom said the suppliers that have gone into bankruptcy protection have been able to get financing, and the court process has worked as intended.

The amount of factory capacity in the parts business has to be reduced, just like it was with the automakers, he said.