Wagoner takes 'most important ride of his life'

The head of the nation's largest automaker took perhaps the most important car ride of his life on Wednesday, traveling 800 km, mostly over highway through four states, to Washington, DC, where he will ask Congress for a second time to save his slumping company.

Two weeks ago Rick Wagoner flew to Washington on a corporate jet. This time the chief executive of General Motors Corp made the trip in one of his company's black hybrid Chevrolet Malibus, driving part of the way. He periodically made calls on his cellphone while in the passenger seat and wore sunglasses to protect from the glare of a sunny day.

Wagoner will be back in the spotlight today, along with fellow CEOs Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler LLC, when they appear before the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee to appeal for financial aid totaling up to $34 billion. Wagoner's plea will be the most desperate. GM submitted a plan to Congress on Tuesday that called for $18 billion in loans and warned that the 100-year-old iconic American company won't have enough money to run its business without an immediate cash infusion of $4 billion.