TOPWRAP 7-US automakers seek aid, Europe looks to bolster banks

* Auto makers begin to detail turnaround plans

* EU seeking ways to get banks lending

* Reserve Bank of Australia cuts rates by full point

* Bank of Japan seeks to help cash-strapped companies

* U.S., European stocks rebound, Asian stocks tumble (For full coverage of the financial crisis [nCRISIS])

By Burton Frierson

NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. automakers sharpened their pleas for a government lifeline on Tuesday and warned of a worsening economic crisis, while Europe and Japan took steps to pump credit into the economy.

U.S. stocks rose as much as 3 percent in the wake of Monday's stunning losses, helped by encouraging statements from Ford Motor Co (F.N). European shares gained 1.7 percent but Japan's stock market tumbled.

U.S. automakers began to deliver restructuring plans that Congress has demanded before reopening a debate on a $25 billion bailout the industry says it needs to survive. [ID:nN021255]

The car industry around the world has been reeling from flagging demand and evaporating consumer credit, forcing automakers to slash production to cut swelling inventories.

While critics have charged that many of the problem's plaguing Detroit's Big Three are of their own doing, politicians worry that without government aid the companies could collapse and millions of jobs could be lost.

"The greater the delay in help, the more damaged the industry becomes," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in an interview with Reuters.

"Because Congress has not acted, even if nobody has declared bankruptcy, nobody is in the showrooms of this industry because they don't know whether Congress is going to act," she added.

Ford became the first to release its plan, which asks for $9 billion of loans, cancels bonuses, proposes to cut dealers and initiates plans for electric cars. [ID:nN02193699]

Ford also said it expects to break even or be profitable in 2011. Investors seized on the outlook and looked past a 30 percent drop in November sales and a warning that the economy continues to weaken. Its shares soared as much as 13 percent.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said U.S. vehicle sales fell 33.9 percent and the Japanese automaker said it would chop management bonuses by 10 percent as it cuts back production in the face of collapsing sales. [ID:nT43280]