Auto Industry Bailout, Bailouts | featured news

The government expects to recover more money than anticipated from the auto bailout as it pulls back financially from the sector, but taxpayers still face billions in potential losses, the White House said.

Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday credited the Obama administration's intervention for the American auto industry's recovery from "the brink of extinction."

The Treasury department said on Tuesday that automaker Chrysler Group LLC has repaid $5.1 billion in bailout loans and ended its ability to draw a remaining $2.1 billion.

Chrysler Group LLC is expected to announce today that it will repay about $7.5 billion in U.S. and Canadian government loans on May 24 -- about a month earlier than it recently said, and years ahead of the original schedule.

An optimistic Chrysler narrowed its net loss significantly in the fourth quarter and forecast a net profit for 2011 as it continued a comeback from bankruptcy protection.

General Motors Co has withdrawn its application for $14 billion in subsidized loans from the U.S. Department of Energy, saying it has the financial strength to fund investment in more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles.

The U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program, which risked $700 billion of government funds to bail out troubled banks and automakers, will cost taxpayers a mere $25 billion, according to an estimate released on Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

General Motors will shrink the government’s ownership stake to less than 50 percent in a $10.6 billion initial public offering, people briefed on the matter said.

How long it takes for the government to divest its holdings in General Motors will, in part, be determined by the company’s success, G.M.’s chief executive said.

The president proclaims the government's support of domestic automakers a success story in a pair of Michigan stops.