US auto financiers may get rescue aid

US automakers' financing units may qualify for financial aid under the $700 billion financial rescue package enacted Oct. 3, the Bush administration said.

A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, declined to comment on whether other assistance might be available to help General Motors Corp., the largest US automaker, and Cerberus Capital Management LP's Chrysler, complete a merger. On this subject, she referred questions to the Treasury Department.

“Automakers do have financing arms, many of them do, and it's possible that some of those financing arms could be a part of the rescue package,'' Perino said at a White House briefing.

Lawmakers have already established the auto companies may be eligible for money under the financial-rescue plan.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said during a debate on the House floor on Oct. 3 ahead of the plan's final passage that the measure gives the Treasury secretary authority to buy troubled assets, such as car loans, from automakers.

Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, also told Michigan Representative John Dingell that the Treasury plan could also be used to help car companies issue consumer loans.