GM executive says hopeful of receiving DoE loan
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GM executive says hopeful of receiving DoE loan
NEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp's request for $10.3 billion in loans under a U.S. Department of Energy program is being considered in tandem with the automaker's 60-day restructuring review, a top GM executive said on Monday.
"Treasury wants to fully understand what our ultimate destiny is before giving us that (DOE) loan," GM's Vice President of Research and Development and Strategic Planning Larry Burns told reporters at a product briefing prior to the New York Auto Show.
The Energy Department program has earmarked about $25 billion in low-cost loans for the auto industry to support development of fuel-efficient vehicles.
President Barack Obama rejected GM and smaller U.S. rival Chrysler LLC's turnaround plans that was submitted as part of the two companies' request for nearly $22 billion in additional U.S. government aid.
The White House-appointed autos task force has given GM 60 days to come up with a restructuring plan that cuts costs and debt levels more deeply than the automaker had planned.
GM has said it will use part of the low-interest government loans to support the development of three new hybrid vehicles, including two spinoffs from its all-electric Chevrolet Volt.
The Volt, which is scheduled to go into production in late 2010, remains one of the most closely watched new GM vehicles and has been central to the automaker's attempt to reinvent itself in the eyes of consumers.
The government, in response to GM's viability plan and request for additional emergency funds, has said the Volt would be too expensive and would need substantial reductions in manufacturing costs to be commercially viable.
"That is an accurate statement about the Volt, and any new technology," Burns said. "The Volt is going to have to go through a generational process."
"Treasury wants to fully understand what our ultimate destiny is before giving us that (DOE) loan," GM's Vice President of Research and Development and Strategic Planning Larry Burns told reporters at a product briefing prior to the New York Auto Show.
The Energy Department program has earmarked about $25 billion in low-cost loans for the auto industry to support development of fuel-efficient vehicles.
President Barack Obama rejected GM and smaller U.S. rival Chrysler LLC's turnaround plans that was submitted as part of the two companies' request for nearly $22 billion in additional U.S. government aid.
The White House-appointed autos task force has given GM 60 days to come up with a restructuring plan that cuts costs and debt levels more deeply than the automaker had planned.
GM has said it will use part of the low-interest government loans to support the development of three new hybrid vehicles, including two spinoffs from its all-electric Chevrolet Volt.
The Volt, which is scheduled to go into production in late 2010, remains one of the most closely watched new GM vehicles and has been central to the automaker's attempt to reinvent itself in the eyes of consumers.
The government, in response to GM's viability plan and request for additional emergency funds, has said the Volt would be too expensive and would need substantial reductions in manufacturing costs to be commercially viable.
"That is an accurate statement about the Volt, and any new technology," Burns said. "The Volt is going to have to go through a generational process."
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