Bermuda's main US vehicle supplier claims the struggle and subsequent bailout of the big three US automakers has not had a big impact on his business.

Daniel Greenslade, owner of Rayclan Chevrolet, which is supplied by General Motors (GM), one of the three troubled carmakers (along with Ford and Chrysler), said he had felt no effect from the fallout and had no feedback from concerned customers or potential buyers.

Other car dealers on the Island said they had no exposure to the US car manufacturers or market.

Last week the US government announced a $17.4 billion loan bailout package to help GM and Chrysler survive. Ford said it hopes to get by without government help.

The government will use part of the $700 billion originally pledged to rescue US banks and has set a deadline of March 31 for the firms to become viable.

General Motors will get $9.4 billion and Chrysler $4 billon before the end of the year, with a further $4 billion to be provided later.

Mr. Greenslade said trade was good at the moment despite the uncertainty surrounding GM's future.

"At the moment things are still pretty good," he said. "General Motors is obviously the suppliers of Chevrolet and is a big global company and I hardly think they are going to go bankrupt and stop producing tomorrow."

"I think at the moment we are not seeing any price increases and the supply to Bermuda is not a problem at all."

Mr. Greenslade said that the majority of Chevrolet vehicles and parts supplied to his company were not made in the US, but came from Mexico, Korea and the UK.

"I do not know if it really affects any of us at the moment," he said. "We have no fear that it is going to be a problem for us.

"We do right-hand-drive models and most of the body panels for them are the same in the US, but the the engine parts are different to the model over here, so we get most of our parts from outside the US."

Bermuda Motors sells Ford Fusion and Fiesta, according to its website, but efforts to contact managing director David Gibbons yesterday were unsuccessful.

Anthony Steed, assistant manager of Technics Auto Centre, said his company had no exposure to the fallout from the big three US automakers at the moment, but did not rule out looking into a number of options in the American vehicle market in the future.

HWP's president and chief executive officer Jonathan Brewin was unavailable for comment and the company's website did not list any US car models.