General Motors and Chrysler LLC are said to be set to receive an additional $5.5 billion in short-term federal aid, according to an Obama administration official. The aid, which would be doled out in low-interest loans, is said to be $5 billion for General Motors and $500 million for Chrysler.
The two automakers had been promised continued short term support, though the administration had balked at the up to $21.6 previously requested.
The White House did not officially comment on the loan amounts, which had been leaked by an unnamed source to the Detroit News.
“No decisions have been made on how much working capital GM and Chrysler will be getting,” said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage.
Meanwhile, Chrysler Financial confirmed that it will not require additional loans.
“Chrysler Financial has determined that it has adequate private capital funding to cover the short-term needs of our dealers and customers and, as such, no additional funding is necessary at this time,” spokeswoman Amber Gowen said Thursday.
Chrysler Financial had received $1.5 billion in loans from the Trouble Asset Relief Program. The financing arm of Chrysler had been in talks with the Obama administration for additional loans, but the talks stalled without any agreement.
GM has until June 1 to reach sufficient concessions from its bond holders, while Chrysler has less than two weeks to work out an agreement with potential partner Fiat.
