U.S. Chamber Comments on Auto Restructuring

WASHINGTON, June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thomas J. Donohue, President and
CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, today issued the following statement on
the Obama administration's plan to restructure General Motors and the
impending ruling on Chrysler:

"The future success of General Motors and Chrysler ultimately depends on
whether they can profitably design and build cars that Americans and other
consumers actually want to buy.

"Our biggest concern with the restructuring plan announced today is the
potential for governments and unions to influence production, product,
workforce, and management decisions in ways that could jeopardize the
automakers' chances for survival, put politics and special interests above
sound business strategy, and disrupt our nation's trading relationships across
the world.

"For example, the UAW has said that it pressured GM to change where the
company plans to produce a new line of smaller cars. And as part of the GM
restructuring, the administration has reportedly closed the U.S. market to
Opel and blocked Opel's forays into China so it could not compete with GM --
clear examples of market manipulation and protectionism.

"If members of Congress, along with government officials from the United
States to Germany to Canada, are allowed undue influence over management's
decisions, then you can write this down: These companies will not return to
profitability and their survival will be seriously challenged. The global
talent that exists in the automotive sector must be allowed to do its job and
be paid on a competitive basis. Management must be permitted to make tough
decisions in a competitive global market without political interference.

"So going forward, the U.S. Chamber will carefully monitor the activities of
the new GM and Chrysler boards, and we will expose and fight any
counterproductive influence by government, unions, or politicians over
decisions that should be left to management. And we will continually insist
that government reduce and eliminate its ownership stake as soon as possible."

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more
than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com
www.chamberpost.com

SOURCE U.S. Chamber of Commerce

JP Fielder of U.S. Chamber of Commerce, +1-202-463-5682