The *average* American, counting men, women, and children of all ages and races...has $161,700 in net wealth above debt.
That's counting home equity, IRA's, 401k's, brokerage accounts, bank savings, cars, homes, everything.
Of that wealth above debt, less than $10,000 is in a car, on average, per American.
And even if/when GM goes belly up, your cars will still have some value, and still be guzzling gas and getting new tires and maintenance (i.e. churning money back into our economy).
But overall, the U.S. economy would no longer even feel the complete elimination of GM, the world's largest producer of automobiles.
Our $12 Trillion annual GDP is simply too vast to be bothered with a $16 Billion company.
GM is no longer primarily a car manufacturing business, but should be in the financial sector. Ignoring the inflated real estate, a large chunk of our net worth is the car. Espcially those who rent.