GM Headed to Bankruptcy?

GM is headed for the crapper and Ford is not far behind. The bigger they come. The government is too busy bailing out banking to offer any assistance. The company itself waited far too long before making strategic changes and bull headedly cast its lot into truck and SUV production until May of this year. This begs the question, "Do shortsighted, arrogant corporations deserve to fail?"

The pain of giants falling is that they take so many Lilliputians with them. The auto industry is the last bastion of American industrial might. Our cars sell like hot cakes in China (GM) and Brazil (Ford) but they look nothing like the cars offered to the American public. In Brazil everyone wants a flex fueled Rio that runs on the country's abundant ethanol. The Chinese love GM's midsize sedans. The big boys seemed genuinely surprised when Americans turned our backs on the gas guzzling monster trucks, V8 sport utility's and other luxury vehicles.

The huge profits of the 90's made the auto industry fat and comfortable. They bulked up the employee inventory, guaranteed outlandish pensions, overcompensated executives and built a marginal, run of the mill product. The Japanese built better cars, made inroads into the market and bided their time. Foreign cars aren't necessarily quality vehicles, just something better than what American manufacturers were willing to put out. The sad history of auto making dictates a low standard of excellence. Quality car makers were bought out or forced from the business from the earliest days. We have lived through planned obsolescence, hundreds of recalls, exploding tires, unsafe vehicles, tipsy SUV's and tinny pieces of crap passing for acceptable transportation.