U.S. seeks data from automakers for bailout review

By John Crawley and Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Automakers must provide Congress with cash and sales data as well as current plans for making energy-efficient vehicles if they hope to receive a government bailout next month, lawmakers said on Friday.

Separately, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told Reuters in an interview that the Bush administration would not offer emergency aid to General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co or Chrysler LLC even if their problems worsen over the next few weeks, and with Congress now out of session.

House and Senate Democratic leaders, in a letter to GM, Ford and Chrysler executives, said the companies must submit a "credible restructuring plan" to demonstrate viability.

The proposals for aid are due December 2 and will be reviewed by the Banking and Financial Services committees, the Federal Reserve, the Government Accountability Office and relevant agencies, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in their letter.

Congress could reconvene the week of December 8 to consider a bailout, if leadership accepts the automakers' plans.

Pelosi said earlier in the day that lawmakers "don't have any intention of seeing the auto industry go down" but stressed that "what we do will be determined by what they do."

Pelosi said Detroit's top executives failed to convince Congress this week at two hearings that emergency aid was needed, especially since they arrived in Washington aboard private jets.

"CEOs getting off a corporate jet, rattling a tin cup is not a good image," Pelosi said in summing up the anecdote ringing loudly in the ears of Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford and Bob Nardelli of Chrysler when they left town.