Auto firms may step up pleas for help

General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and US auto-parts makers will greet President-elect Barack Obama with the same plea they have been making for months: We need help from Washington, and fast.

"We have a lot of members who are having trouble with the credit crisis right now," said Ann Wilson, spokeswoman for the Washington-based Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, which represents suppliers such as Johnson Controls Inc and Lear Corp. "We've got to figure out a way to keep the manufacturing base in this country."

The industry's agenda for the new president will be topped by intensified calls for an immediate disbursement of $25 billion in low-interest loans signed into law by President George W Bush on Sept 30. While the money is supposed to be for the development of fuel-efficient vehicles, automakers argue it should be freed up to meet current capital needs.