美政府催逼通用和克莱斯勒选择破产WSJ: Obama Admin Pushing Bankruptcy As Lead Option For Carmakers

奥巴马说美国不会容许汽车业一夜之间蒸发掉

据知情人士透露，奥巴马政府拯救通用汽车公司(General Motors Corp.)和克莱斯勒公司(Chrysler LLC)的首要计划将是利用破产申请清除这些公司所面临的最大问题，如债券持有者的债务和退休人员的医疗成本。

此举从根本上将会把两家公司按照“好”成份和“坏”成份分拆。据一位政府官员说，政府愿意看到“好”通用汽车公司──其中包括雪佛兰和凯迪拉克等品牌──继续生存下去。

这位人士说，“好”克莱斯勒公司将会出售给菲亚特(Fiat SpA)，前提是这笔交易能够完成。

通用汽车和克莱斯勒近几个月来已经安排了破产律师着手设计此类计划。奥巴马的任务小组已向两家公司表示，美国政府更愿将这条路线作为重组两家汽车公司的途径，而不是至今已经让政府官员深感头痛的旷日持久的庭外过程。

几位知情人士说，通用汽车看来越来越有可能被迫申请破产保护，时间可能在5月中下旬。根据这个计划，通用汽车将分拆为两家公司，生存下来的“新”通用汽车将完整地保留雪佛兰和凯迪拉克等主要品牌和一些国际子公司。

新通用汽车的股份将交给债权人和全美汽车工人联合会(UAW)的会员。新公司也有可能全部或部分出售给投资者。

破产并不是唯一的选择。这两家公司可能在今后两个月里避免破产的命运。通用汽车仍在同债券持有者、工会会员和其它债权人进行着一些高层次的磋商。

知情人士说，执行这个计划的一个关键因素就是让全美汽车工人联合会同意签署一份全新的劳动合同，包括大幅削减医疗保健福利等。其中一位人士周一说，这是目前面临的最大变数。

根据这项计划，预计“好”通用汽车将不会承担几十年来给这家汽车公司带来沉重压力的数百亿美元的退休和医疗保健债务。相反，这些债务将被转移到“老通用”中，这家公司由不太受青睐的品牌，如悍马、土星(Saturn)，以及表现欠佳的工厂和其他资产组成。

通用汽车的这部分业务很可能会处于破产状态很长时间，同时也会寻找各部分业务的买家或是考虑进行分拆。出售老通用汽车的所得将用于支付包括通用汽车退休人员在内的各债权人的索赔。

一位知情人士说，这就是整个计划，在某种程度上说，它是符合破产法的。

这个新老通用汽车策略的部分内容在上月递交给联邦政府的通用汽车复苏计划中有所提及。在这份计划中，通用汽车估计，它在美国市场的份额将从22%缩减至约19%。

在克莱斯勒，破产将用于迫使达成新的劳动合同和重新制定与有抵押债权人的债务协议。代表克莱斯勒一方的人员说，这项协议充满风险，因为该公司仍然不相信它能够撑过哪怕是短期的破产。为了满足奥巴马政府的要求，即克莱斯勒的债权人同意大幅减少他们预期可以收回的克莱斯勒的债务，它可能需要做到这点。

The Obama administration's leading plan to fix General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC would use bankruptcy filings to purge the ailing companies of their biggest problems, including bondholder debt and retiree health-care costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move would in essence split both companies into their 'good' and 'bad' components. The government would like to see the 'good' GM, which would comprise brands such as Chevy and Cadillac, to be an ongoing company, according to an administration official.

The 'good' Chrysler would be sold to Fiat SpA (FIATY), assuming that deal is completed, this person said.

GM and Chrysler have had bankruptcy attorneys devising plans for such a move in recent months. Obama's task force has told both companies that the administration prefers this route as a way to reorganize the two auto makers, rather than the prolonged out-of-court process that has thus far frustrated administration officials.

GM looks increasingly as if it will be forced into filing for bankruptcy protection, sometime in mid-to-late May, in a plan under which the auto maker breaks into two companies, the surviving entity a 'new GM' that maintains key brands such as Chevrolet and Cadillac and some international units intact, say several people familiar with the situation.

Stakes in this new GM could be given to creditors and UAW members. It is also possible the new company could be sold whole or in parts to investors.

Bankruptcy isn't the only option. The auto makers could avoid bankruptcy in the next two months. And there is some brinksmanship still going on in GM's high-level talks with bondholders, union members and other creditors.

A key ingredient in acting on this plan is getting the UAW to agree to an entirely new labor contract, including major reductions in health-care benefits, according to several people involved in the matter. 'That's the No. 1 wildcard here,' one of these people said Monday.

Under this plan, the 'good' GM wouldn't be expected to hold the tens of billions of dollars in retiree and health-care obligations that hurt the auto maker in recent decades. Instead, those obligations would be transferred to an 'old GM,' made up of less-desirable brands such as Hummer, Saturn, and underperforming plants and other assets.

This part of GM would likely sit in bankruptcy much longer while a buyer is sought for the parts or it is wound down. Proceeds from the sale of old GM would go back to pay claims to various creditors, including the GM retirees.

'That is the plan, to the extent it comports with the bankruptcy laws,' said one person familiar with the matter.

Some of the New GM-Old GM strategy is laid out in the GM viability plan sent to the federal government last month. In it, GM estimates that it would shrink from 22% of the U.S. market to about 19%.

At Chrysler, bankruptcy would be used to force new labor contracts and rework debt deals with secured creditors. People working on Chrysler's behalf say the deal is risky, because the company still isn't convinced that it could survive even a short-term bankruptcy. It could be done in order to meet the Obama administration's demand that Chrysler's creditors agree to huge reductions in their expected recoveries on Chrysler debt.

Jeffrey McCracken / Monica Langley / John D. Stoll