Meeting with car industry useful: Mandelson

He said the package of loan guarantees announced yesterday had been welcomed by the manufacturers he met and a discussion on how the industry and supply chain can access the guarantees had been productive. "I have asked industry to work with my Department to ensure they can access these schemes as early as possible,” the Business Secretary went on. “We have already had discussions with the European Investment Bank and we are beginning immediate talks with the European Commission to ensure that we are able to move forward on yesterday's measures rapidly. "There was also agreement at today's meeting to take forward work to improve car company financing arms' access to funding. BERR have already opened exploratory discussions with banks and Trade and Investment Minister Mervyn Davies will be taking this forward. Further meetings on this between BERR and manufacturers will take place this week. "I am confident that the actions we and the automotive industry will now be taking together will help the industry build the bridge to a greener future for the auto sector. I very much welcome the support of the SMMT and the manufacturers who have recognised that the Government is taking action to address the challenges faced by this strategically important industry."