White House keeping eye on auto suppliers

WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- A lead automotive industry adviser to the White House said the government was keeping a close eye on suppliers to the shaky U.S. auto industry.

"There have been a number of recent bankruptcy filings by important part suppliers," adviser Steve Rattner said. "We are watching every one of them."

"From where we're sitting, the market is working and those parts suppliers that have had to file for Chapter 11 in recent days have been able to get debtor-in-possession financing, and have been able to continue their operations," he said.

The latest large parts supplier to file for protection was Lear Corp., a major supplier of automobile seats with 72,000 employees worldwide, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.

Lear Chief Executive Officer Bob Rossiter said he scoured the globe for partners in the past six months. In the end, the company found $500 million debtor-in-possession financing from investors that included JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

Lear's largest customer General Motors Corp. filed for bankruptcy June 1. Chrysler LLC, the third largest U.S. automaker filed for bankruptcy a month earlier.

As the companies emerge from court protection, however, the global slump in automobile sales shows few signs abating soon.