A seminar was held on Tuesday in Traverse City in northern Michigan state to address the role of the U.S. government in the auto industry.
According to sources from the seminar, topping the agenda at the event, which focuses on topical issues in the automotive industry and attracts attendees from manufacturers, suppliers, the government, academia and the media, will be the recent bankruptcies of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC as well as the government's decision to invest more than 80 billion U.S. dollars in auto rescue efforts.
Ron Bloom, the White House's top auto adviser, and Ed Montgomery, the top official on auto community recovery, are participating in the seminar. Other big names include the newly named president of Toyota Motor Corp., Akio Toyoda, who will deliver the keynote address on Wednesday.
Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst, said: "The big questions are going to be what is the government's future role in the auto industry? Do they actually have a timeline with which to extract themselves from these companies?"
She also said the seminar will look closely at the role of U.S. Congress, which is considering legislation that would seek to reverse the closings and planned closings of more than 3,000 GM and Chrysler dealers.
She said the state of auto suppliers would also be addressed in detail as a string of auto suppliers have been forced into bankruptcy in part because of the 35-percent decline in U.S. auto sales through the first half of 2009.
The agenda also includes a series of sessions on the dramatic increases in fuel efficiency standards that are planned by the federal government. Automakers will have to meet a 35.5-mile-per-gallon fleetwide efficiency standard by 2016.
The seminar, which is sponsored by the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, runs through Friday.
