WRAPUP 1-U.S. automakers rush to finish plans for Congress

By Kevin Krolicki and John Crawley

DETROIT/WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. automakers led by General Motors Corp (GM.N) on Monday rushed to finish restructuring plans demanded by Congress before lawmakers reopen the debate this week on the $25 billion in emergency funding the industry says it needs to survive.

GM's board began to review the top U.S. automaker's revamped business plan on Sunday and has been asked to endorse steps that include consideration of dropping or selling off the Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands, according to people with knowledge of the plan, which will be announced on Tuesday.

Ford Motor Co (F.N), considered a better bet to survive on its own because of its bigger cash position, said it would review its options for Volvo and could sell off the Swedish luxury brand. [ID:nN01387204]

Chrysler LLC, now controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, said its board was meeting to review the plan leading lawmakers have demanded by Tuesday ahead of potentially make-or-break hearings set for later in the week.

Chrsyler, widely seen as the most vulnerable of the Detroit Three, needs to spell out a plan that would allow it to take a share of the federal funding even as it seeks a partnership with other automakers, analysts said.

"Just as General Motors is too big to fail, Chrysler is too small to survive on its own," said IHS Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman.

Plans from all three Detroit automakers are expected to cap executive compensation while pointing toward new concessions expected from the United Auto Workers union, analysts said.

The union is likely to be asked to give up job security guarantees for workers at U.S. plants that close and asked to renegotiate how the automakers will pay into a trust fund set to take over responsibility for retiree health care from 2010.

In addition, GM is almost certain to ask its bondholders to swap some portion of its existing $44 billion debt in exchange for a deeply discounted payout and some equity interest in the restructured company, analysts say.

Under fire for fighting fuel economy standards for years, the Detroit-based automakers also are expected to detail plans to build more fuel-efficient cars and roll out alternatives to gas-powered vehicles.

GM, Ford and Chrysler have all declined to discuss their restructuring plans before submitting them to key lawmakers on Tuesday.

But analysts say Detroit is gambling that plans that show labor, management, creditors and investors sharing in sacrifices at a time of crisis for the industry will win the companies the political support that has so far eluded them in Washington.

"Going in it was pretty clear that the powers that be in Washington we're interested in seeing the automakers come back with plans with more concessions," said Dennis Virag of the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group. "I think they will get the funding."

But the complicated plans for the automakers hinge on major changes that could take months to complete.

Partly for that reason, the UAW said it supports a two-step process that would see Congress approve emergency funding for the industry this week with a follow-up review next year after President-elect Barack Obama takes office. [ID:nWEN1159]