When the chief executives of Detroit’s three carmakers flew to Washington to ask Congress for bail-out funds last month, unimpressed lawmakers sent them home with instructions to return with what Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi called “innovative, accountable and viable” plans.

The heads of General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler arrived from Michigan on corporate jets, a fact that angered some lawmakers and drew bigger headlines than the specifics of their request for $25bn in emergency bridge financing to stave off a cash crunch threatening their survival.