They'd make a better rotary without Ford's nonsense.

Well if they couldn't manage billions of dollars before, then why give them billions to continue a flawed system?
Let them fall, let them declare bankruptcy and someone will come by and buy up the bad assets and start anew.
You don't reward failures, rewards are earned by the diligent worker, and the successful management of businesses.

needs to be QFT again

dont they make crappy cars anyway

you want the painful truth?

over the last 20 years there has been countless indicators that the auto industry was going to need to gear up to move away from oil.
the big three made a conscious decision to ignore this, thinking they could force the consumers to continue to accept their outdated technology and complete disregard for furthering alternate fuel engines by pumping out year after year barely changing models and almost non existent engine changes while their competition was retooling for the changes the market was demanding.

I'd say they were caught with their pants down but in fact they had so much time to actually stay in the race its more they decided they wanted to run down the road with their pants around their ankles on purpose.

should they be bailed out? thats an economics question and unfortunately the answer would be yes to save countless jobs.

should the heads of each of those companies be fired and replaced plus all the managers who had a hand in the last 20 years of policy making? YES!

Not going to lie, didn't bother reading, lost interest.

Well folks in the end, bailing out the big three turned out to be a huge waste of time. GM's already filing for bankruptcy.

Only 2 of the (not so) Big 3 were bailed out.
Chrysler already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (reorganization/ restructuring)
GM is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (reorganization/ restructuring)

Ford on the other hand has gained market share and continues to go on its own without the need for government bailout money.

I say we let them rot.

The big three haven't made any notable production cars in the last ten years, and they've all been running on terrible business plans.

How they ever lasted this long is beyond me.

There shouldn't much of an impact if they die anyway; other manufacturers will pick up where they left off.

So, with GM shutting down and cutting out most of their lines of car leaving only their most profitable flagships (chevy, cadillac, etc.) it seems one more lesson has been POSSIBLY learned.

...i can't seem to figure out the lesson though. i mean c'mon, CEO steps down, but control is given to the US Government, and several billion dollars have been given to supposedly fix everything. I see no point whatsoever.

Seems like some justice was dealt, but in my opinion, not enough. Certainly we are in a recession and my heart goes out to all those who lost their jobs and to the dealers whose ties were cut by the automakers instantaneously in terms of support and funds. However, the big three make up a small portion of the entire auto industry workforce, so it's not as dramatic a hit as they kept insisting it was back when they were doing their plea agreements riding in private jets.

damn greedy bastards they're basically saying give us money or millions of americans will lose jobs. Thats black mail and they're holding their workers as hostages.

It's really hard for a company like GM to use their worker's as hostages because GM controls their business, not the government. They had their chance to restructure over the past decade but they refused to follow the trends. Majority of their current lineup contained larger vehicles.
Tahoe, Suburban, Excursion, Explorer, Malibu, Silverado, etc. I can name more SUVs and trucks than I can name cars from their lineup.
Refusing to step away from their V8 and follow the automobile trends is what caused their downfall. That's why they asked for a bailout and that's why they filed chapter 11. It's really not the government's problem that GM led themselves into a shithole because of their stubbornness.

Nor the banks or the car makers deserve a bail out. If these companies were any proof of well run business in line with interests of both people and planet then today they would not be in the condition to beg for a bail out. What they are now attempting with poorly explored hybrid variety is too little and too late. Instead of the money going to the big 3, it should go to companies like Tesla, which are producing fully electric cars that have excellent mileage and performance.