Big Three CEOs Ready Game Plan

Chrysler was also expected to present its plan to Congress on Tuesday ahead of the hearings.

GM's proposal to scale back its brands is dramatic, because it involves relationships with dealers, said Patrick Anderson, who heads Anderson Economic Group in Lansing, Mich. "They have never talked publicly about reducing the brands in this matter," he said. "Almost all of these dealers are independent companies with dealer protection laws in 30 states."

Meanwhile, Ford took the chance to display financial strength, saying it may not need a loan. "They made a point of saying they are different, that they have a chance to get to profitability by 2011, and their plan has only relatively modest changes in the dealer structure, as compared to the GM plan," Anderson noted.

Earlier, on a conference call with reporters and analysts, Ford officials said the company's market share in October and November was 15%, up from the 14% it had projected. Ford declined to say whether the trend will continue.

Still, in general, Ford's short-term expectations are bleak, at least for the first half of 2009. "Conditions today -- economic conditions, credit conditions, prospects for employment and consumer confidence -- certainly suggest to us that the [low] sales rates we've seen in last couple of months [are] going to persist as we enter 2009," sales analyst George Pippas said.

GM said November car sales were 58,786, off 44%, while truck sales were 96,091, down 39%. A bright spot was the Chevrolet Malibu, which gets 33 miles per gallon on the highway. Its sales rose 31% in November. GM still has plenty of room to sell more hybrids. It delivered 1,335 hybrids in November, making the annual total just 11,884 units.