THE local arms of American carmakers General Motors and Chrysler face an uncertain future as their parent companies look to stave off a collapse brought on dwindling sales and skyrocketing debt.

While the Singapore subsidiaries of the US giants say they are optimistic about the future, company officials skirted questions about how they would survive the collapse of their American parents.

Experts, though, say optimism would be short-lived if the Detroit automakers, which are quickly running out of cash, are forced into bankruptcy.

Read Maria Almenoar's full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times