THE chief executive of Ford has offered to work for $1 a year and sell his corporate jet if the car maker is bailed out by the American taxpayer.

Alan Mulally said he would abandon plans to fly to Washington and instead drive the 500 miles to meet lawmakers tomorrow.

Ford is asking the US government for a $9bn ten-year federal loan in case market conditions deteriorate.

It comes as the firm slashes production of Transit vans at its Southampton plant.

The Swaythling factory is losing money but the head of Ford in Europe, John Fleming, said survival would be possible by cutting output from 75,000 vehicles to just 35,000 chassis cabs and exporting production of the iconic Transit van to Turkey.

In a meeting with Hampshire MPs last week Mr Fleming guaranteed that the company would stay in the city.

Meanwhile Mr Mulally forecast that Ford would be profitable again by 2011 but said that may not happen if another US car company went bust, sales of large sports utility vehicles (SUVs) continued to decline, unions continued to resist redundancies and benefit changes, or America's credit crisis deteriorated. Experts believe all those scenarios are likely.

In its business plan, Ford said it was trying to cut operating costs, consider breaking itself up, and investing in fuel-efficient cars.

It said it was in talks with the United Auto Workers union to try and cut costs, reduce the number of dealers and suppliers it uses, cancel all bonuses paid to management across the world in 2009 and to all employees in the US next year. Mr Mulally took $21m in pay last year.

Mr Mulally said: "For Ford, government loans would serve as a critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions."