There has been some progress in U.S. government-driven negotiations to save Chrysler LLC, according to a senior White House official, who today also did not rule out an attempt to complete the company's restructuring in bankruptcy, Reuters reported. "We're hopeful this is all going to work out in a successful way," Larry Summers, President Barack Obama's senior economic adviser and co-leader of the government's task force working to restructure the auto industry, told the "Fox News Sunday" program with the automaker facing a Thursday deadline to arrange viable business plan. "It's something we want to see." Summers cited some gains in talks on multiple fronts but was not specific. "There are some issues that have been worked out and some issues that remain to be worked out," Summers said. Chrysler, the smallest and weakest of the once-vaunted Detroit-based 'Big Three" automakers, must substantially cut its debt and negotiate concessions on retiree health care and other matters with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to satisfy federal requirements for its restructuring and be eligible for continued bailout assistance. The Canadian Auto Workers agreed to new contract concessions with Chrysler on Friday. General Motors Corp is under similar pressure to restructure on its own by June 1, or face the likelihood of bankruptcy.
