Geithner, Summers Convene Official Designees to Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry

WASHINGTON – Today, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and National Economic Council (NEC) Director Larry Summers convened official designees to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry to discuss recently submitted restructuring plans from Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corporation.

The Task Force will be a cabinet-level group that includes the secretaries of Transportation, Commerce, Labor, and Energy. It will also include the Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the EPA Administrator, and the Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change. The Task Force will be led by Treasury Secretary Geithner and NEC Director Larry Summers.

The designees attending today’s meeting presented their initial analyses on the auto companies’ restructuring plans. Participants discussed issues including financial and operational restructuring, improving competitiveness of wage and benefit structures, and progress toward creating clean, competitive cars of the future.  Secretary Geithner and Director Summers emphasized the urgency of the issues affecting the American auto industry and the need for fundamental restructuring to achieve long-term viability. They tasked the designees to conduct additional analysis and form initial recommendations in their areas of expertise to be presented at the next cabinet-level meeting of the Task Force.