Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/ford-ceo-promises-shift-to-smaller-cars-greater-efficiency-if-industry-survives Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript By the week's end, lawmakers will review business plans submitted Tuesday by Detroit's Big Three. Ford CEO Alan Mulally explains his auto company's proposal to avoid bankruptcy. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: The CEOs of the big three automakers are headed back to Capitol Hill tomorrow, bringing with them even more dire predictions of imminent collapse.JIM PRESS, president, Chrysler: Right now, if one of the companies went bankrupt, as has been said, it would take others with them. Instead of a recession, if we lost the industry — 4.5 million jobs would be infected — it could be a depression at some point. GWEN IFILL: Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford, whose sales have dropped to a 25-year low, are asking Congress to approve at least $25 billion in government help and possibly as much as $35 billion.General Motors is in the worst shape, reporting it needs $4 billion just to get through the end of year, and $18 billion by the end of next year.Chrysler is asking for an immediate cash infusion of $7 billion.And Ford is requesting a $9 billion line of credit that could grow if the other companies fail or economic conditions worsen.If the federal government steps up, all three CEOs have promised to slash their multimillion-dollar salaries to a dollar a year, reduce the number of brands they offer; close dealerships, produce more fuel-efficient vehicles and squeeze additional savings from labor contracts.Union leaders, who held an emergency meeting in Detroit today, said they would do their part. Ron Gettelfinger is the president of the United Auto Workers.RON GETTELFINGER, president, United Auto Workers: We're going to make modifications. We're not opening the contract, if you will. We make modifications, which under our constitution we have a right to do. But then we take them back to the membership, and I'll just leave it at that. GWEN IFILL: Gettelfinger said the government has made fewer demands of other companies. RON GETTELFINGER: AIG or Bear Sterns or Citigroup, nobody asked them for anything. No oversight, no anything. Look, here's the plan. You want the plan? Here it is: Oversight? Bring it on. U.S. government gets equity in the companies? You got it. No dividends? There it is.I mean, so I think this is a big difference than Company A out here raising their hand and saying, "I need help." GWEN IFILL: In contrast to their last Washington appearance, the CEOs paid closer attention to atmospherics, leaving their private jets at home and traveling the 500 miles from Detroit in hybrid cars.