After the U.S. Congress failed to come up with a deal for the country’s top auto makers, the companies are taking drastic steps to save money and survive.

Chrysler said it would extend the normal two-week holiday shutdown that begins Friday to at least Jan. 19 at all 30 of its factories due to slumping sales. They and General Motors were looking for Congress to approve $14 billion in loans.

Chrysler spokesman Dave Elshoff said four plants will be temporarily closed beyond Jan. 19: two plants in Toledo, Ohio, and one each in Ontario and Detroit.

Workers at the shuttered factories will get their regular vacation pay for the scheduled two week shut down. For the extended shut down, the workers will be hitting the unemployment rolls and also receive a supplement from the company, earning 85 percent of their normal pay.

GM last week announced that they were temporarily shutting down 20 factories across the country, some for the entire first month of the new year.

Ford announced it will shut down 10 of its North American assembly plants for an extra week in January, extending their normal holiday closings. Only two assembly plants won’t be affected.

Via / Yahoo!