Chrysler shuts plants as Bush weighs bailout pleas

By Poornima Gupta and Chang-Ran Kim

DETROIT/TOKYO (Reuters) - Embattled U.S. automakers General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC both announced new steps to shore up their dwindling cash on Wednesday as they awaited word on whether the White House will grant pleas for billions of dollars in emergency loans they need to survive.

GM said it was suspending work on construction of a new engine plant in Flint, Michigan where it plans to build a new small engine key to its effort to reinvent itself as a maker of fuel-efficient and all-electric cars.

Chrysler said it would shut down all of its production for at least a month, effective from the last shift on Friday.

The No. 3 U.S. automaker, considered the weakest player in an embattled industry, also said its U.S. dealers were losing up to a quarter of all potential sales because of the difficulty in securing loans for consumers.

In another move underscoring the deepening of the industry's financial crisis, Chrysler said its financing arm could have to suspend loans for its dealers to carry inventory of unsold cars, potentially cutting off trade credits that U.S. auto retailers depend on to stay in business.

President George W. Bush said a decision on the request for emergency loans to GM and Chrysler needed to be made "relatively soon," but suggested he was still thinking through basic questions on how the aid should be structured.

"I'm looking at all options," Bush said in an interview with Fox News Channel.

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said time was running out for the Bush administration to come to the aid of the struggling industry.