CAR MAKERS GOING IN THE TANK

Michael sez: Got this off of Yahoo News. This is bad medicine. If these people fold I am afraid for the American workforce.

DETROIT – Chrysler LLC said Friday it will cut 25 percent of its salaried work force starting next month, and the company warned that it will make more restructuring announcements in the near future.

CEO Robert Nardelli said in a statement that the moves are being made as the company "works to find new ways to operate."

Chrysler, which has about 18,500 white-collar workers, also will cut a quarter of its contract employees, those who work for other companies under contract with the automaker.

About 5,000 workers are likely to lose their jobs, although the company would not say how many contract workers it has.

The company also said employees have been told to cut discretionary and overhead expenses and reduce capital expenditures not related to major products.

"These are truly unimaginable times for our industry," Nardelli said in the statement. "We continue to be in the most difficult economic period most of us can remember. The combination of troubled financial markets, difficult credit, volatile commodity prices, the housing crisis and declining consumer confidence continues to weigh on the economy. Never before have auto industry sales contracted at such a fast rate," he said.

Chrysler's sales are down 25 percent through the first nine months of the year, the worst decline of any major automaker.

On Thursday, the company announced it will cut 1,825 jobs by eliminating one shift at a Toledo Jeep plant and accelerating the closure of its sport utility vehicle factory in Newark, Del., because of the slowing global economy and a shift toward smaller vehicles.

Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, is in talks to sell the company or merge with another. Discussions are under way with General Motors Corp. and the combined Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA.