Obama to Announce Auto Czar Picks This Month

The White House administration is continuously working to form an auto restructuring team, including an auto czar that would oversee the industry reform, and the first picks may be announced this week, The Detroit News wrote quoting sources familiar with the matter. What's more interesting is that Stephen Girsky, an ex-General Motors consultant, may be a member of the restructuring team to supervise GM's and Chrysler's revamping process. However, Girsky is not expected to be named auto czar, the aforementioned source added, but he will likely receive a top role in President Obama's team.

In addition, Steven Rattner, mostly known as a partner at the New York-based Quadrangle Group, is also a top candidate to be named auto czar by the White House administration.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last December that a car czar would be recommended before the Detroit 3 (General Motors, Chrysler and Ford) receive any money from the United States government. “I would want the czar to be appointed before one dollar was spent ... so theoretically this week. I think somebody like Paul Volcker, who has bipartisan confidence and the public and private confidence,” Pelosi was quoted as saying by Autonews. Pelosi initially said that former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was the top candidate for the auto czar position.

General Motors already received $13.4 billion in loans while Chrysler, who gained approximately $4 billion is seeking an additional $3 billion loan in the next month. Both companies are required to forward a restructuring plan to the government by February 17. Ford insisted it doesn't need government support as the company has the ability to revamp sales using its own financial resources.