Long Island car dealerships are putting on a happy face despite continued bad news for GM and Chrysler.

The U.S. government agreed to lend an additional $2 billion to GM Friday and is trying to reach a deal with Chrysler to keep the automaker out of bankruptcy court. Chrysler could be forced into bankruptcy next week without further aid. GM also announced this week it will close some plants for up to nine weeks in a money-saving maneuver.

"Business is down, yes ? but not as bad as might be expected," says Pat Cassino, owner of Sun Auto Group in Bohemia. "It's actually a small number of plants that are shutting down for that period of time, and one of them produces the Corvette ? which is of course, a low volume car."

Merrick Dodge owner Joe Settineri remains optimistic about Chrysler's future.

"I think everybody involved - the unions, the banks, Chyrsler themselves, the Treasury - everybody wants to make the best deal," says Settineri.

Nearly 2,000 union jobs on Long Island could be lost without a deal to save Chrysler.