Recovering Automaker Repays Emergency Loans

Topics:  Chrysler LLC

VOA Breaking News
Voice of America
May 24, 2011 at 7:05 pm UTC

The automaker Chrysler has repaid the U.S. government $5.1 billion of the emergency loans it took to avoid bankruptcy two years ago at the height of the financial crisis.

The repayment came six years ahead of schedule.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement Tuesday that the payback marked a “significant milestone” in the recovery of the company and the communities and families that rely on the American auto industry.

Chrysler and larger rival General Motors were pushed to the brink of collapse as the financial crisis and unpopular products cut sales drastically.

The U.S. Treasury Department says that since the two companies emerged from bankruptcy in June 2009, the auto industry has added more than 115,000 jobs.