Automobile Industry

Tighter credit, depleted retirement savings and environmental concerns are among the forces reshaping the U.S. auto market into something that looks more like Europe and the rest of the world -- where people buy smaller, more efficient cars and hold on to them longer. Although every automaker is feeling the pressure, Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, and General Motors, which is on the road to taxpayer ownership, have been sideswiped hardest by careening change.

Chrysler's chief says the automaker has received an initial $4-billion loan from the Treasury Department. Chief Executive Robert Nardelli said Friday that the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company's talks with the federal government about the bridge loan had been completed. Nardelli said the initial loan would allow Chrysler to continue its restructuring and pursue "our vision to build the fuel-efficient, high-quality cars and trucks people want to buy, will enjoy driving and will want to buy again."

The Bush administration said Wednesday that it wouldn't finish implementing new vehicle fuel-efficiency rules, leaving the issue to the incoming Obama administration. The Transportation Department said that the recent financial problems of automakers would require the next administration "to conduct a thorough review of matters affecting the industry." The auto industry was swift to criticize the decision, saying any delay could cost companies money.

It's 1957: The sky over Flint, Mich., glows at night from the spark-showering assembly lines. At Ford's River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, the hammering goes on day and night. Corvettes get fuel injection. Chryslers get tinsel-bright tail fins big enough for Sputnik to see. The Detroit Lions win the NFL championship. Motor City is firing on all cylinders. That was then, and this is now, and now -- as most everyone knows -- is the most desperate moment in the history of American automaking.

Twenty-odd years ago, the Taurus saved Ford. Can it do it again? Ford Motor Co. will unveil its complete redesign of the car at the auto show in Detroit today, and the company is hoping that the flagship full-size sedan will set the pace for a new generation of Ford vehicles -- not to mention provide a much-needed sales boost in a competitive sector of the market at a crucial juncture.

All three major U.S. automakers are pulling out of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, the latest sign that a bad economy and crashing sales are disrupting the industry on an international scale. The gathering, scheduled for October, is one of the auto world's premiere events, where cutting-edge vehicle designs are showcased for a technology-savvy crowd. By pulling out, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co.

If the auto industry thinks it has problems now, wait until Barack Obama takes the wheel. Not long after assuming the presidency, Obama is expected to grant a waiver allowing California and more than a dozen other states to enforce their own greenhouse-gas emission standards on autos.

There's little question this is a company town. The 15-story Chrysler world headquarters is the tallest building for miles, towering over a 486-acre corporate campus on the western edge of the city. Police cruise in Dodge Chargers developed with the automaker. The city manager drives one too, and his wife gets around in a Dodge minivan. City Hall is a converted country estate built by John Dodge's daughter.

I was listening the other day to a couple of American automobile executives complain to the president of the United States about emission regulations and all their other burdens -- high wages, government safety mandates, unfair foreign competition. You know the list. They said this stuff was killing the industry. "We are in a downhill slide, the likes of which we have never seen in our business," one remarked. The Japanese, he said, "are in the wings ready to eat us up alive."

Honda Motor Co. said Monday that managers' salaries would be slashed 5% starting next month to cope with sliding sales. The cut comes on top of the 10% pay reduction for directors announced last month. The move affects about 4,800 managers at Honda group companies in Japan, but not those hired by Honda's overseas units, the company said. The reduction continues through May, and what happens after that is still undecided, it said. Japan's No.