German carmakers are lobbying the US for wider access to $25bn in low-cost loans for the domestic automotive industry approved by Congress last week in a re-run of the debate over the financial rescue plan.
While the aid package does not specifically exclude foreign carmakers, one senior European executive described it as "clearly a bail-out" of the Detroit-based industry.
The loans would help carmakers modernise their plants to build more environmentally friendly vehicles. But the legislation applies only to plants that are more than 20 years old, excluding all but a handful of foreign-owned facilities.
Stefan Jacoby, the US head of Volkswagen, said lobbying had already started, with Tennessee and Virginia - the two states where the German carmaker has a US presence - also taking part. "It is, to a certain extent, discriminating against foreign manufacturers," he said.
The Department of Energy has yet to flesh out the legislation with detailed regulations in a process that will take at least six and possibly as long as 18 months.
Just as European and Asian banks - eventually successfully - lobbied to be included in the US financial bail-out package, so carmakers are hoping for more equal treatment under the auto-loans legislation.
"Yes, we are lobbying. And other states where there are foreign manufacturers are lobbying too," said Mr Jacoby.
Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler, said: "If there is a general investment into R&D to promote green technology, it might be a reasonable move but it shouldn't be exclusive to some manufacturers."
Mr Jacoby acknowledged that any negotiations would be difficult, coming in an election year and with the US carmakers situated mostly in the critical states of Michigan and Ohio.
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of France's Renault, urged Europe to look at a similar plan. "The European Community should perhaps do the same. Why only in the US?"
In contrast to the Europeans, Toyota has kept a low profile, taking the view that it can do little to alter the legislation.
Wendelin Wiedeking, chief executive of German sports carmaker Porsche, was more relaxed about the loan, saying he thought it was "sensible" for the US to try to help its car industry as "US companies certainly didn't do enough on innovative environmental products for a long time". Fritz Henderson, GM's chief financial officer, said that the US carmaker was hoping for a "meaningful" portion of the loan, given the company's size, but declined to say how much.
Additional reporting by Bernard Simon
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