Driving Detroit's recovery

How automakers will fare under an oversight committee instead of a "car czar"

"Uncle Sam's role in reshaping Detroit's auto industry just got a bit clearer, said Brian Wingfield and Joann Muller in Forbes. There will be no "car czar" to evaluate the restructuring plans being submitted by General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler; a Presidential Task Force on Autos will do the job instead. "Whether that's a good thing depends completely on the follow-through."

Using a "team of generals" instead of a czar, said John Crawley in Reuters, will give President Obama and his team more flexibility in steering Detroit onto the road to recovery with the help of the $17 billion bailout approved in December. That could mean one or more of the automakers could be headed into bankruptcy—a possibility Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner—who will oversee the review—has mentioned as a possibility.

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