Big Three Sale

Roll up, roll up! America’s ‘big three’ – GM, Ford and Chrysler – are selling assets to try to avoid bankruptcy. The firms’ bosses went to the US Government in search of $22.9billion in loans.

Ford’s Alan Mulally, GM’s Rick Wagoner and Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli have agreed to sell private jets and work for $1 a year to persuade senators to bail them out! GM is believed to be selling its HQ in Detroit, plus vacant manufacturing buildings in Europe, to raise $4bn. It may also offload Saab, Suzuki, Pontiac and Saturn.

Experts suggest that, without help, GM will be insolvent by Christmas. Meanwhile, Ford plans to sell Volvo, and has already dropped its $360million stake in Mazda. The blue oval still needs a $9bn loan to be profitable by 2010. And Chrysler owner Cerebrus wants $7.2bn from previous parent Daimler to compensate for mismanagement at the brand when it took over.