PHILADELPHIA -- According to this quarter’s Phoenix Management "Lending Climate in America" Survey, one-third of lenders nationwide expect sales for the BIG 3 automakers and their North American suppliers to be weak during the next six months.

Half maintained that the sales would remain flat, highlighting the ongoing concern over the health of the auto industry.

To return the industry to profitability, 54 percent of lenders said successful cost-cutting initiatives by the Big 3 were most needed. Another 29 percent said that American automakers must introduce more energy-efficient cars to compete with Asian manufacturers.

Eight percent of lenders don’t believe anything can be done to bring the Big 3 back to profitability.

Nine out of 10 lenders said their financial institution would feel concern about making loans to an automotive supplier with exposure to GM, DaimlerChrysler or Ford – but it would not necessarily preclude them from making the loan, if asked. Six percent said the state of the auto industry would pay almost no role in their financial institution’s evaluation of the loan request, but two percent said their institution would turn the request down outright because of the auto industry’s problems.