Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, will
meet with the governor of the
Bank of England, Mervyn King, with the aim of breaking a
deadlock on the proposals to provide government aid for
car finance arms of the major
car companies .
Meetings to resolve the situation, scheduled between
representatives of the
car industry and the government, have been put back until Lord
Mandelson has met with Mr. King. There is currently an impasse over
attempts by the business secretary to support the
vehicle finance departments of
car manufacturers.
The
motor finance arms are currently unable to lend due to a
credit squeeze, keeping new
car sales at rock bottom levels. The chief executive of the
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders was reported as
commenting: The Bank is the one that draws up the rules and
interprets the rules. When we met Lord Mandelson on January 28, it
was very clear that this was something that needed to be dealt
with, with the utmost urgency.
