Poll: Regulations critical, autos less so

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. adults indicated they believed support for ailing automobile makers was less critical than tightening restrictions on financial firms, researchers said.

Forty-seven percent of the respondents in a USA Today/Gallup Poll survey conducted Nov. 7-9 indicated federal help for U.S. auto companies was "not very important," the newspaper reported Tuesday.

In the same poll, 60 percent of the 1,010 respondents indicated they believed tighter regulations for financial firms were "critical" or "very important."

As U.S. automakers lobby in Washington for help staying afloat while sales plummet, "most people do not understand the ramifications of a collapse within the U.S. auto industry," Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group told the newspaper.

"They see GM, Ford and Chrysler, but they don't understand … the total size of the problem," he said.

General Motor's Corp. share prices fell 23 percent Monday, closing at $3.36 a share. The company is quickly spending its cash reserves, burning through $9.66 billion this year.

The company has $16.2 billion in reserves left, the newspaper said.

GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said the company's predicament cannot wait for a new president to take office.