US Offers Up To $5 Billion To Aid Auto Suppliers

奥巴马政府宣布了一项融资安排，将向陷入困境的美国汽车零部件供应商提供不超过50亿美元的资金，这些厂家许多都挣扎在破产的边缘。此次援助将把资金注入数十家美国最大的零部件供应商，这些厂家向美国三大汽车公司提供汽车座椅轮轴等零部件，但却迟迟拿不到货款。美国财政部在一份声明中说，此举将为这些供应商提供开展业务所急需的资金，并在更大范围内帮助汽车零部件供应业重新获得信贷。由于美国汽车销售量急剧下滑，再加上早些时候发出的货物一直未收到货款，数百家美国汽车零部件供应商一直在困境中苦苦挣扎。汽车生产商和奥巴马政府的汽车专责小组近日都警告说，汽车零部件供应商破产的连锁反应将引发美国汽车工业的大浩劫。这些零部件供应商上个月在递交给财政部的一份建议书中列出了三种融资安排选择。该建议书合计要求政府提供约250亿美元的贷款和其他援助。包括Lear Corp.American Axle & Co.和Manufacturing Holdings Inc.在内的美国主要汽车零部件供应商都发出警告说，自己的经营状况越来越令人担忧，Lear公司周二表示，它从银行获得了60天的宽免期，这意味着放贷机构不想把该公司推入拖欠偿还贷款的境地。美国汽车零部件生产商的数量多年来一直在减少，一些人现在担心，由于全球经济萧条导致汽车生产萎缩，美国汽车零部件产业可能会整体陷入破产境地，这一产业每年的收入达数千亿美元，雇佣了数十万员工。虽然美国前总统布什(George W. Bush)当政时美国政府已经向通用汽车(General Motors Corp.)和克莱斯勒公司( Chrysler LLC)注入了资金，以防止这些公司申请破产可能引发的混乱，但这却并未解决汽车零部件产业生产能力过剩的问题。奥巴马政府的官员们正呼吁制定一项救助美国汽车产业的更广泛计划，该计划将要求这一产业内的各个环节都做出重大变革。至于那些与通用汽车福特汽车和克莱斯勒有大量业务往来的零部件生产商，它们要求延期偿还贷款的要求正越来越多地被贷款机构所拒绝。而这三大汽车生产商甚至连那些对它们至关重要的供应商也无力救助。通用汽车公司的发言人弗洛尔斯(Dan Flores)说，政府的这一救助计划有助于降低汽车生产难以为继的风险，由于零部件供应商流动资金短缺，这种风险是切实存在的。他还表示通用汽车感谢政府在救助汽车零部件产业方面的“迅速行动”。Neil King Jr. / John D. Stoll相关阅读欧洲汽车业普陷困境 2009-03-13汽车业求援之手伸向全球 2009-03-04美国汽车业巨头面临破产危险 2009-02-17 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年03月20日08:37', 'LEA'));Lear Corp.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：LEAdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月20日08:37', 'AXL'));American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：AXL


The Obama administration announced a financing facility that will provide up to $5 billion in assistance to the U.S.'s beleaguered auto-parts suppliers, many of which are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy filings.The assistance will pump money into dozens of the country's biggest suppliers to help pay for seats, axles and other components shipped to the Big Three Detroit auto makers, but not paid for.'This will provide suppliers with desperately needed funding to operate their businesses and help unlock credit more broadly in the supplier industry,' the U.S. Treasury said in a statement.Hundreds of suppliers have been struggling to keep going as car sales have plunged and bills for earlier shipments have gone unpaid. The car makers and President Barack Obama's auto task force have both warned in recent days that a chain reaction of bankruptcies within the suppliers sector would cause havoc in industry.The suppliers last month offered a proposal to the Treasury with three options for financing facilities. All told, the plan called for about $25 billion in lending and other assistance.Major suppliers, including Lear Corp. and American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., have issued warnings concerning their status as going concerns, and Lear said Tuesday that it received 60-day waivers from its banks, meaning the lenders won't push it into default.The number of auto-parts makers has dwindled for years, and some now fear that the industry, which accounts for hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs, may be headed for liquidations as auto production shrinks amid the global economic slump.The administration of former President George W. Bush injected capital into General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to avert the potential chaos of bankruptcy filings. But that didn't address overcapacity in the auto-parts industry. Obama administration officials are calling for a more comprehensive aid package for Detroit that would require big changes across the industry.Increasingly, lenders are refusing to extend credit to parts makers that do a lot of business with GM, Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler. And the auto makers themselves can't afford to rescue even their most vital suppliers.GM spokesman Dan Flores said the package 'will help reduce the risk of vehicle production disruptions that would occur' because of the liquidity shortage in the supply chain, and that the company appreciates the administration's 'quick action' on the issue.Neil King Jr. / John D. Stoll