NEW YORK The passage of time since the automaker bailouts by the federal government has done little to improve public opinion of General Motors and Chrysler, according to the results of a Rasmussen Reports survey fielded last week. Indeed, quite the reverse.

In the new poll, 56 percent of respondents said they have an unfavorable opinion of GM, up from 48 percent in May. Just 9 percent in the new poll said they have a "very favorable" opinion of GM, while 21 percent said their opinion of it is "very unfavorable."

Chrysler got similar treatment from the poll's respondents. Fifty-five percent said they view that automaker unfavorably, up from 52 percent in May. And Chrysler's "very unfavorable" tally in the new poll exceeded it's "very favorable" vote by 23 percent to 7 percent.

As has been the case since it declined to request a bailout, Ford fares significantly better in public esteem. Two-thirds of respondents voiced either a "very favorable" (22 percent) or "somewhat favorable" (44 percent) opinion of Ford. Twenty percent held a  "somewhat unfavorable" and 6 percent a "very unfavorable" view of it. Tellingly, 46 percent of respondents said they'd be more likely to buy a car from Ford because it did not take a bailout. By contrast, just 17 percent said they're more likely to buy a GM vehicle now that the company has emerged from bankruptcy with federal help. Twenty-two percent said they're less likely to do so.

Elsewhere in the poll, 82 percent of those polled said the domestic auto industry is at least somewhat important to the national economy, including 40 percent who rated it "very important."