Could someone explain again why the other companies manufacturing cars in the US are doing fine? Toyota, Honda, Nissan and others, right?
Capitalism should not be about old, established companies being given a pass on basic management, and rewarded for failure. Let ‘em go down. The economy is going to be a bloodbath regardless.
No pain, no gain.
The auto inductry is all about economies of scale. There are heavy investments in product design and tooling that need to be recovered by sales. Once the investments are covered, the profits are enormous. It's called the breakeven point. Sales 30% below the breakeven point cause huge losses. The domestics have a high breakeven sales volume to meet. Combining ever decreasing market share (causes a legacy cost issue) along with not being able to make as large a profit on cars as Honda and Toyota hit but a sudden decrease in sales ---> bankruptcy. So, the causes? Management (vehicle design, lack of recognition of long term declining market share), UAW (costs per unit), Congress (credit debacle, high oil prices over the last two years).
Hudson
Packard
Studebaker
American Motors
I am sure there are others.