GM and Chrysler: 294 pages and the numbers are staggering

Wading through the 294 pages that General Motors and Chrysler submitted to the US Treasury, one thing stands out: the financial size of the problem the two companies face.

By James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:26PM GMT 18 Feb 2009

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The numbers are staggering.Chrysler – which asked the US government for $7bn at the end of last year – wants an additional $9bn. GM estimates that under a worse-case scenario it will need $30bn, or $16.6bn on top of the $13.4bn of US taxpayers' money it has already gobbled up.

In December, a number of American friends, one from Detroit, took me to task over my suggestion that by the early New Year “the begging bowl will come out again.â€