Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders of Detroit's automakers finally sit down with President George W. Bush today to air their ideas for helping their ailing industry -- at a moment when Bush has become less relevant to the discussion.

The meeting comes a week after Bush's Republicans lost control of Congress in midterm elections. Reflecting the new reality, Washington representatives of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's U.S. affiliate met yesterday with Representative John Dingell (news, bio, voting record), a Michigan Democrat who's in line to head the House Energy and Commerce Committee next year.

``Bush has to establish that he is a friend to the industry and that's going to require some significant changes in policy,'' Dingell said in an interview. ``It's also going to require the establishment of a relationship with the leaders of the industry.''

Today's meeting, which Bush had twice postponed citing fears that it would become embroiled in election-year politics, brings together the chief executives of the automakers with a president who's leery of industry bailouts. Meeting with Bush at the White House will be GM's Rick Wagoner, 53; Ford's Alan Mulally, 61; and Chrysler's Tom LaSorda, 54.

The auto chieftains and Bush have ruled out a direct bailout or government loan guarantees. So the executives want steps to help the industry compete against foreign imports.

The meeting is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. The agenda includes calls for pressure on Japan for a rise of the yen, progress toward a national health plan that could ease the cost squeeze on employers and subsidies for development of hydrogen- and ethanol- powered vehicles.

Bush View

In the meeting, Bush is expected to exhort automakers to push fuel-efficient new models, said White House spokesman Tony Snow. He said the president won't offer much more than verbal encouragement for Detroit's restructuring efforts.

Automakers are seeking incentives for cars and trucks that use a fuel mixture that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, called E85, and are also interested in aid for cars that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Critics say E85 isn't truly fuel efficient, only getting 10 miles to the gallon -- at $3.99 a gallon -- in a Chevrolet Tahoe, according to last month's Consumer Reports magazine.

While Detroit's expectations for the auto summit have been downsized to sub-compact proportions, auto executives still look forward to a dialogue with the president. The industry welcomes a chance to discuss ``the things that make us competitive in a global environment,'' said Mike Aberlich, a spokesman for the U.S. affiliate of Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler.

Government Role

According to Steve Collins, president of the Automotive Trade Policy Council, a Washington-based trade group, U.S. automakers ``are models of the readjustments that are going on in the American economy with globalization. If there's a message,'' he said, ``it's that the government has a part to play in how it reacts to this adjustment.''

U.S. automakers say that they suffer from a more than $1,000-per-vehicle disadvantage to foreign competitors because of higher costs for health insurance and pensions.

Dingell has long advocated a universal health insurance plan that would ease the benefits burden on management. He plans hearings on a government-subsidized health plan next year, even though Republican opposition makes prospects for enactment dim.

Dingell, in the past, has also fought against higher fuel efficiency standards, something most Democrats have pushed for. This may be a sore spot if Democrats renew calls to mandate improved mileage standards -- a move that would have to clear Dingell's committee.

Currency Float

Dingell has introduced legislation in recent years that would amend future trade agreements to add sanctions against currency manipulation by U.S. competitors.

That is aimed squarely at Japan, where central bank officials periodically hint that they will intervene in the currency market to keep their exchange rate favorable for exporters.

Bush is unlikely to be sympathetic to the automakers' claims that currencies are a major source of their problems, an administration official said, noting that White House economists see little correlation between a weaker yen and slack U.S. auto sales.

``I'd be surprised if there were much of an appetite for simply trying to salvage the industry through protections or some other vehicle,'' said Grant Aldonas, the Commerce Department's undersecretary for international trade in Bush's first term and currently an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ``But that's not to say the industry doesn't have legitimate complaints.''

U.S. Losses

Ford, based in Dearborn, Michigan, today restated its loss for the quarter ending Sept. 30 to $5.25 billion. Chrysler lost $1.5 billion and GM, based in Detroit, lost $91 million in the same three months.

For the same period, Aichi, Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp. reported a profit of $3.5 billion, bolstered by $765.4 million thanks to the weak yen. Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. Ltd. had a second-quarter profit of $1.09 billion. The U.S. is by far Honda's biggest market and accounts for much more than half of its sales and profit.

``Trade tensions from the past have largely changed,'' said Edward Cohen, Honda's Washington-based spokesman for government affairs. ``Honda now builds almost 80 percent of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. in North America.''

The United Auto Workers, a union representing 650,000 workers and 550,000 retirees, wasn't on the invitation list for Bush's huddle with the automakers.

Labor and Management

When President Bill Clinton hosted auto summits, he sought the input of the UAW as well as management, said Alan Reuther, the UAW's legislative director in Washington.

``It's a clear difference'' with the Bush administration, Reuther said. ``The fact that they haven't bothered to invite us to this meeting, I think, speaks loudly.''

While Dingell said he very much wants to work with the Bush administration on problems confronting Detroit, he remains skeptical, given the president's hands-off philosophy.

``Remember that St. Paul on the way to Damascus was knocked off his jackass by a lightning bolt,'' Dingell said. ``Perhaps that is what is needed.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Newton-Small in Washington at jnewtonsmall@bloomberg.net Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan, at jgreen16@bloomberg.net

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