US car giants General Motors and Chrysler could run out of cash within weeks after the Senate rejected a $13bn (€10bn) bailout to rescue the automobile industry.

General Motors will cut 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world’s biggest carmaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly €3.4bn in losses so far this year.

The Oldsmobile, the line of cars that started out in 1897 and featured models such as the Rocket 88 and the muscular 442, is coming to an end this week.

Lights flickered back on in the north-east US and Canada today as the biggest power cut in American history stubbornly retreated.