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Detroit Asks For Larger Infusion Of Fed Funds; GM Trims Brands

The road to an auto bailout is going to a hair-raising ride for workers, dealers, investors and taxpayers, writes Steven Mufson, who reports that General Motors and Chrysler "beseeched" Washington Tuesday for "massive new infusions of financial aid in an effort to avert bankruptcy, which they say would depress sales even more than they have been depressed by the slumping economy."

"I don't know what you're going to call it, but they're going to go through bankruptcy, whether outside the bankruptcy system or with the benefit of the courts," says analyst Maryann Keller. "At the end of the day, the United Auto Workers are going to have to take a haircut, creditors are going to take a huge haircut and equity is gone. What will effectively happen is exactly the same as bankruptcy."

Among the most nettlesome stakeholders are dealers, who are protected by a variety of state laws and franchise agreements that usually can be broken only in bankruptcy court. Analyst Stephen Girsky has said that U.S. carmakers should close 70% of their dealerships, far more than GM recently set as its restructuring goal.

Fabrizio Costantini, meanwhile, writes about GM's vanishing nameplates in the Times. According to its viability plan submitted to the government, GM plans to cut its brands in half to Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. It will phase out Saturn by 2012. The Pontiac name could remain on some models, but may no longer be a separate division. It will decide on the fate of the Hummer by March 31, and Saab is for sale

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