European firms set to benefit

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Daimler AG, the largest luxury-car makers, stand to benefit more from a government rescue of the US automobile industry than if their competitors go bankrupt.

A proposal to grant General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC $15 billion in emergency funding should avert a meltdown that would depress sales and drag down the financially strapped parts makers that supply the European companies' plants both in North America and elsewhere.

"You can't underestimate what would happen when a large player collapses," BMW Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said in an e-mailed response to questions. "That would impact the supplier structure and therefore the entire industry."