Bush sees long-term auto health strong

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush believes that despite current difficulties in the U.S. automotive industry, its long-term health is strong, the White House said on Tuesday.

General Motors Corp recorded almost $39 billion in losses for 2007 and said it would offer buyouts or early retirement to all of its 74,000 U.S. hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers union.

"The report from GM reflects what we've known for a long time which is that the automotive industry in the United States is having some difficulties and they are trying to work through those. They are trying to restructure, they have a changing marketplace, buyers have different tastes, and there are issues regarding how high their cost of business is," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"Over the long term, the president believes strongly, the long-term health of the U.S. automotive industry is strong, but they have some issues that they are going to have to work through," she said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Richard Chang)