U.S. automakers must change course to get bailout

By John Crawley - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auto executives pitched doom to Congress to win a bailout and left town empty handed. Now they will have to make a U-turn and convince lawmakers their industry has a prosperous future.

The chief executives of General Motors Corp, Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co never recovered politically after landing in Washington on their corporate jets with hats in hand.

A horrible week for the chiefs ended with their hopes for an immediate bailout dashed and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chastising them for sending mixed signals and not owning up to industry's problems.

"We want them to get their act together," Reid said.

Uncomfortable talking about business prospects and financial details in public, Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford and Bob Nardelli of Chrysler spent two days doing just that in congressional hearings.

GM said it would need between $10 billion (6 billion pounds) to $12 billion in bailout money while Ford and Chrysler sought $7 billion each.

Their message centecentredred on a belief that the industry's outlook was so bleak that a collapse was possible. And because they employ nearly 250,000 people and impact 1-in-10 jobs nationally, insolvency of one or more of their companies would send shockwaves through the broader economy, they said.

Wagoner told the House Finance Committee that he did not like asking for money, but it was "reasonably probable" that some part of the U.S. auto industry "will not survive" if their request was rejected.