After weeks of debating, President George W. Bush has approved $17.4 billion dollars in low-interest loans to aid General Motors and Chrysler. (FoMoCo will not be receiving any money, as they say that they do not need any sort of assistance at this time.) The $17.4 billion will be used for short-term financing throughout December and January, with another $4 billion being handed out in February, providing that the funds can be properly secured from TARP's $700 billion bank.

More details will surely emerge as the weeks move on. As for now, these loans are provided on the grounds that the automakers prove that they have a "positive net present value, taking into account all current and future costs, and can fully repay the government loan." Click through the post for the full press releases from GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

+ Autoblog: Bush greenlights $17.4 billion Auto Rescue/Bailout package

After passing in the House of Representatives, the Big Three bailout bill failed to pass through the Senate this evening. To further complicate things, this matter will not be revisited until the new Senate takes their seats next year.

In lieu of this, General Motors is reportedly seeking the assistance of bankruptcy advisors and the folks at Chrysler have evidently already made arrangements for Chapter 11 counsel. News of the bill failing to go through has already affected Global markets, with the Nikkei index dropping over 6 percent as of this writing. We don't expect things to be too pretty on the New York Stock Exchange, either. This comes as bad news for many Americans, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has agreed that this will be "a very, very bad Christmas."

How do you feel about the bailout not passing? Let us know your thoughts and opinions, in comments.

+ Autoblog: Repercussions of failed automaker bailout spreading quickly

Detroit's Big Three have been the victim of some bad press as of late due to the present bailout decision. And while all three automakers know that they need to make some adjustments to their product lines in order to survive moving forward, we mustn't forget that there are still some really good products coming out of Detroit. GM has consistently stolen hearts with the Corvette, Suburban, and CTS; Ford's Flex and Mustang are solid contenders, and Chrysler made a splash this year with the Challenger.

 So, let's forget about the financial crisis for a moment and focus on the good things Detroit is doing. Let us know what your favorite piece of new American metal is in Comments.

Congress has officially struck a deal with the White House and a $15 billion rescue package has been put together for the Detroit automakers. General Motors and Chrysler will be boosted through March with low-interest loans, while Ford will not be taking any loans at this time, unless its financial situation worsens. This bill must still pass through the Senate and House of Representatives, however. All of this money will come out of a fund previously established by he Energy Department earlier this year.

An interesting twist in all of this, though, is that the White House resisted a proposal to hold Chrysler's owner responsible for any repayments should Chrysler not be able to pay back their loans. Thus, if Chrysler goes under, there's little chance of seeing this taxpayer money repaid.

+ Motor Authority: $15 billion Detroit 3 deal reached in Washington

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ACURA TL

Last Generation: 2004 - 2008
Current Generation: 2009

A lot of controversy has been stirred over the contrasting chevron grille that Acura has put on most of its new models, and while the last-gen TL wasn't necessarily a huge step forward in sporty expression, we prefer its cleaner lines and less-contrived aesthetic.

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Most of the time, when an automaker completely overhauls one of their models, it's a good step forward for not only the car, but for the brand it represents. However, there are other times where the design teams make some questionable decisions and the new products end up looking worse than their predecessors.

Thus, we present our list of ten cars that, from a design standpoint, we think looked better in their previous generation. Scroll through our gallery to see all of the contenders, and leave a comment with any cars that you think we may have missed, and/or maligned.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122419486740342439.html?mod=djemalertNEW...

The Wall Street Journal reports that GM and Chrysler "are accelerating merger discussions amid strong support from potential lenders that are eager to see a deal done."

When you're up to your neck in debt, and your lender tells you to do something, you listen. I would not be surprised if this deal is inked within a week, with Monday being the most likely day.

Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli released a memo for company employees and suppliers today, which attempted to address rumors that the automaker has been discussing a possible merger with Motown rival General Motors. The letter explains that the leadership of Chrysler has in fact been, “approached by third parties who are interested in exploring future possibilities with Chrysler,” though it never explicitly states which “third parties” those are. Nardelli does dance awfully close to the issue though, mentioning “other headlines” over the weekend that speak to merger possibilities for GM and Ford, as well as with Chrysler.

The Chrysler head starts his remarks on a rather ominous, if completely logical note, speaking to the week of turmoil in world financial markets and the credit crunch, of which Nardelli says, “now presents a more serious issue to the automotive industry than four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline.” So much for those cheap gas cards.

In all the memo is far more illuminating for what it doesn’t say rather than what it does, namely that Chrysler has a firm plan for independent action in the near-, mid-, or long-term future. Read Nardelli’s remarks in their entirety below.

+ The Detroit News: A message from Bob Nardelli

Alright, so perhaps this isn’t a “classic” in the truest sense of the word, but forgive us for finding joy in (what appears to be) a French-Canadian Chrysler Sundance commercial that features an oh-so-Eighties model, a bit of spirited building-scaling, and a vocal cameo by none other than Celine Dion.After all, we Yankees didn’t get to hear the Titanic singer in our Chrysler spots until 2003, a campaign that went over like… well, the Titanic.

+ YouTube:: 1987 Plymouth Sundance - Celine Dion

Several of our staff recently attended Chrysler’s What’s New for 2009 press event at the Chelsea Proving Grounds, which gave us a chance to test-drive pretty much every vehicle Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge currently make, including the new Challenger (which is a blast, by the way!). We spent most of the day driving Jeeps off-road or tearing around the track in Calibers and Sebring convertibles, but we also had the opportunity to speak with Max Gates, Manager of Safety and Environmental Communications for Chrysler, about the company’s latest green initiatives.

What can a company constantly on the edge of financial disaster afford to do to support clean energy research and the environment? Well, quite a bit, apparently. Gates explained that the twenty-six-story tower in the field at the center of the track is a meteorological tower testing the winds for the suitability of windmills in Washtenaw County, as research by the county has indicated the winds in the Proving Grounds area might be sufficient to make local wind power practical. The field itself consists of 110 acres of soybean crops Chrysler is growing for biodiesel research. Gates said that the company is looking into three non-food crops as well to keep biodiesel production from driving up food prices.

The soybean fields need no mowing, and neither do the natural prairies Chrysler is growing at a couple of its plants in Michigan and Ohio, complete with walking trails. This results in great savings in grounds maintenance as well as a beautiful working environment for Chrysler employees and a reclaimed habitat for wildlife.

Combating or adapting to global warming will take a much more serious effort than the U.S. has been putting forth in the last few years, but if we’ve learned anything from Al’s slide show, it’s that there is no silver bullet, and every step forward counts. Unfortunately, the only hybrids involved in our day of driving were large SUVs (the Dodge Durango Hemi Hybridand Chrysler Aspen Hemi Hybrid), and the touted fuel-economy gains of other Chrysler vehicles were decent but not press-stopping. What do you think of Chrysler’s environmentally friendly efforts? Let us know in comments.