The only thing the big 3 car makers have been good at for the last several years is finding the toleration point of American consummers and riding it as far as they can. They have chose not to exel at anything to do with mileage, handling, quality of ride and the durability of the body and engine.
Back in the 70's when they were caught with thier pants down by the Japanese who were making small cars with great milage, they were wealthy enough to survive and had a great chance to change thier ways. They even came out with small cars to compete like the Cricket, the Vega and the Pinto. With each failure, they would make a few changes and come out with another line such as the K-car, the X body and the Zepher and Fairmont. For the last few years, they were convinced that the American public was no longer interested in anything but power and speed and invested the farm on the return of the Hemi, the Mustang and Camero as well as full sized trucks with more standard horsepower than the competitor has. What a great time for gas prices to triple. None of the big 3 have anything that gets 35 mpg, and if it gets over 25 mpg, it's junk. Back in the 70's they could blame it on the unions and did have to design cars the the union personel could build. By now they should have over come that obstacle. I don't expect any of them to be in business much longer without another bailout.
Well,
My prognosis of all the Big 3 is not as bleak as yours.
It was obvious long before the cash crunch that the big 3 were putting all their eggs in one basket with the SUV/LIGHT TRUCK segment.
However, Styling has returned to the American Car... at least some of them. Crysler some GM products and Ford products are cutting edge in terms of styling... while Toyota and Honda are 10 years out of date and forgetable.
GM has managed itself into a mess.. screwing suppliers, tired products, etc etc etc... They have been the big dog so long they don't know how to change... their entire company is culturally obsolete. They expect their suppliers to deliver J.I.T. but then won't pay them for 90 to 180 days for the parts.... They force their dealerships to pay more for parts then they do the secondary market for the exact same parts... etc etc etc etc...
My entire family the only total lemons we have ever owned have been GM's one a late 80s and one a mid/late 90s...
Ford on the other hand, while losing money in North America IS a PROFITABLE company, even with the North American losses... so they aren't going anywhere other than up.. They will get their North American Operations fixed.
Crysler with the merger and all I have no idea what their footing is, but I don't see the brand disappearing anytime soon.
GM though needs to get rid of several brands... Olds wasn't enough.. they have too many rebadge BS... there is no reason for an automotive manufacturer to have more than 4 or 5 brands... low end entry level brand... middle of the road brand, hi performance brand, luxury brand, and professional vehicle/truck brand.
Pontiac is crap, while I like the new Solstice or whatever its called, the brand is a joke... take anything we make under another name and just give it a nostril grill and throw flairs on it and sell it as a pontiac.... Either make the brand a true performance brand... or kill it.
BUICK... what is Buick? A semi-luxury brand?... Why? Roll it into your luxury line with a lower price point, or into your middle of the road brand as a step up..
Trucks.. GMC, CHEVY... What the hell? They are the same damned vehicle... while have them competing with each other.. pick one and stick with it. A FORD truck is a FOD truck.. whether I'm going to use it as a construction worker, or just as my toy hauler.
GM needs a system wide enema if it wants to survive.