A Tennessee senator who voted against government bridge loans for the Big Three visited the 2009 Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday and warned that the automakers were still far from financial stability. Senator Bob Corker, a Republican, expressed concern that General Motors may not meet the restructuring mandates that came with the company's $13.4 billion government loan. He also warned that Cerberus Capital Management isn't spending enough to keep Chrysler competitive and that the company should merge with another automaker to remain viable.

At the auto show, Corker met with auto executives and checked out cars from GM, Ford, Chrysler and Volkswagen, according to Reuters. Volkswagen is in the process of building a plant in Tennessee, which is also home to Nissan headquarters. Corker was one of several Southern senators who either opposed the auto bailout or insisted on strict conditions. Specifically, the Tennessean proposed wording to a Senate bill that would have required UAW workers to take pay cuts to put their compensation in line with nonunion auto workers at foreign competitors. That bill never passed, but a similar stipulation was included with President Bush's loan.

Corker made the trip to Detroit after Michigan Attorney General and fellow Republican Mike Cox invited every senator to the show in a Washington Post opinion piece on Tuesday.