WASHINGTON -- President Bush told U.S. auto industry leaders on Tuesday he recognized they had "tough choices" to make their companies competitive in a difficult global environment and promised a continuing dialogue between government and industry, reported the Associated Press.
Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials met in the Oval Office for just over an hour with top executives of Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group.
The automakers later told reporters they'd had a good [image-nocss] meeting. "The president clearly understands the importance of the business to the United States and the global economy," said Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally.
GM chairman and CEO Richard Wagoner said, "It was a very good dialogue, very open back and forth." He said the automakers told the president that by 2012, up to half of their vehicles could be capable of running on ethanol blends of up to 85% (E85). He said automakers would need assurances that the alternative fuel would be adequately available. Currently, only about 700 of the 170,000 gasoline stations nationally offer E85; most are in the Midwest.
The three automakers said earlier this year they would double their production of flexible-fuel vehicles by 2010.
Bush cited a "mutual desire to reduce our dependence on imported oil."
"And so we found a lot in common," Bush said. "We'll have a continuing dialogue that's in our interest. In government we find out ways that we'll be able to "work to make sure this industry is as vibrant and solid as possible. And, so it's the beginning of a series of discussions we'll have, not only with me, but with people in our government."
Bush generated criticism in Michigan when he told The Wall Street Journal last January that automakers need to manufacture "a product that's relevant." Underscoring their work on advanced technology, Wagoner and Mulally arrived at the White House in hybrid vehicles produced by their companies.
The auto executives also said they pressed their concerns about health care and trade issues, while making clear that the troubled industry does not want a federal bailout. Tom LaSorda, president and CEO of DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, said the automakers stressed that "specific issues like health care" aren't limited to the automobile industry.
Click here to view a transcript and video of President Bush's official remarks about the meeting.
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