I have an idea. Why don't the we, the US Taxpayers, bail them out and give them welfare and another chance? What do you say? It worked for Iacocca and Chrysler. Listen, how could anyone foresee this coming?

Smartest guys in the room, alright. It's survival of the fittest and I would love to see these guys fall. Watch and see the merger of GM and Ford. Chrysler's done. They have to give gas away to move their piece of crap trucks and cars. Our local Dodge dealer in Carlsbad, you know the one "who'll stand on his head until his ears turn red?" They literally are selling ALL their inventory at 50% off MSRP. No kidding and you get the free gas, too. My friend bought an '05 truck a few weeks ago and paid more than what a new truck at this place would have cost him.

...but I'm relieved that Ford is at least coming forward to publicly state they're going to change their design and operations focus, whereas GM and DAimler/Chrysler haven't yet come to the conclusion that the day of teh Road Dinosaur is done, and it's time to think smaller and more efficient.

We'll have to sit back and see if the decision is really too late, and/or if we'll see the primary indicators of our industrial well-being shift from American companies to foreign companies or foreign ownership (more so than D/C already has).

only thing I'm counting on in all this pain: the Boardmembers will all be getting healthy paychecks or other corporate awards for their screwing the pooch....

-5.75,-4.05
"God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." -- Robin Williams

Their European and international portfolio always consisted of smaller and reasonable cars. They have decent market share in Europe and probably sustainable margins as well.

GM is now marketing the German designed Opel Astras under Saturn's brand in the US and Canada. In the UK they've always branded the same cars as Vauxhall. Confused the hack out of me when I was a teenage Exchange student to the UK in the 80ies.

Ford's position is stronger because it's a truly global brand and they own another really solid car maker with Volvo. Nevertheless I think both could survive if they basically nuke their lousy US operations and get out of it with manageable debt levels. The latter will probably be forthcoming at some point via "devine" beltway intervention.

NEWSFLASH: There ain't no DaimlerChrysler no more

That means Chrysler is pretty much out in the cold since Daimler cut them loose. Don't give them a very large chance of survival.

Give the new guy at Ford some credit. And avoid patting GM on the back. The years the new Ford has been leading his company have been dedicated to getting to this point. The inertia in the company is enormous. It would be very smart for everyone on this blog to read Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma to fully understand how change in organizations can be nearly, or actually, impossible. I'm sure the old hands and various departments at Ford have been very irritated by the new guy simply not getting it, over the past few years, about the "the way we do things here at Ford," and the present situation has finally given him the clout necessary to make some changes. And then he has only been able to bring to the US cars already made for market elsewhere, simply a product-to-market adjustment and no substantive change. But it's a start.

GM, with all of its divisions and a pyramid of bureaucracy, talks a good line. Try to avoid getting all excited. If either Ford of GM goes into bankruptcy, based on the nature of their organizations I would predict GM would be the one to fall.

I am old enough to remember when the first VW Beetle rolled into town. No one had ever heard of it before we saw the first one being driven down the street by the son of a Norwegian immigrant who had skied for Norway in the Olympics. Once we had seen VW Beetle car clubs popping up all over, my prediction was that Ford, GM and Chrysler would be pouring R&D money into the development of small cars to compete with the Beetle. But all of the small cars that came out were lame, built with off-the-shelf parts, mainly, so that no resources would be taken from the established lines. I was disappointed then and have been disappointed in Detroit ever since, over the span of nearly half a century.

Check out The Innovator's Dilemma where it all becomes clear.

Channing
Ventura CA USA