The White House said Tuesday that US automaker General Motors's report that it lost 38.7 billion dollars in 2007 was “significant” but expressed optimism about the industry over the long term.
US carmakers are adjusting “in structural ways that can help keep them competitive in the future and we're confident that, over time, that they're going to be successful in doing that,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
Earlier, General Motors said it planned to offer voluntary buyouts to all 74,000 members of its union-represented US workforce in response to what was its biggest annual loss ever.
“Today's report is obviously a significant one. and a slowing economy increases the strain on what is a very important American industry,” Perino said, stressing that all US carmakers faced “difficult times.”
“What we really need to make sure that we do is keep the overall US economy going so that we can make sure that, not only the car industry, but other industries can remain strong,” she said.
US President George W. Bush was due to sign a roughly 160-billion-dollar stimulus package on Wednesday in a bid to help the battered US economy.
