Even more jobs would have been “saved” if the GM and Chrysler corporations had been allowed to proceed to bankruptcy, reorganized, and the various divisions spun off to Fiat, Volkswagen, Toyota and even Ford. The core corporations with their liabilities reduced to a manageable level, would have been able to revive as smaller, leaner entities, without all the legacy costs. They might have still been building automobiles, or gone into specialty production like construction equipment or railway rolling stock, but they would have been able to regain some control over corporate direction.
Even Studebaker did not close production altogether when it dissolved operations in South Bend, what was it, about 1966 or so. They moved major operations to Canada, and continued to build consumer products, as Studebaker-Worthington. And nobody, NOBODY, ever suggested that any form of government assistance be applied in that instance.
Well, the overall point is, if what they claim is true, then NO COMPANY should ever have to shutter its doors. The government should bail out EVERY failing company and we would be living in economic paradise. No jobs lost, no lost taxes, no social insurance liabilities. It was tried once. It was spelled “USSR”.