I like your analogy of oil. Here’s why:

Cars need their oil changed. You can’t simply add more without removing the old oil. In management, such a procedure would be known as following a sunk-cost decision making process. I don’t expect you to understand that, but basically what I’m saying is that GM doesn’t just need more oil (money), they need an oil change (new products, new leadership, new market strategy)

GM needs to shrink. Their brands overlap, and their brand images are not as well defined as they should be. Why have Buick AND Cadillac? Why hasn’t GM sold HUMMER? Why do they own SAAB? Why does Saturn exist?

Bob Lutz’s pet project, the Solstice/Sky, while certainly a fun car to drive, is not the kind of change that GM needs. The change is too little, and coming too late.

Remember, capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. When companies are mismanaged, they should be forced to adapt or die.

Additionally, bankruptcy doesn’t mean an automaker just goes away. They continue to exist, and produce. Look at the United Airlines bankruptcy for an example of how a large, multinational corporation operates in chapter 11. So the domino argument loses some of it’s inherency, since it is predicated on the complete collapse of the Big 3.
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As for blaming the millions of Americans who buy imported automobiles…please, spare us the rhetoric. If people buy imports, it’s for one simple reason: They are better. Very few people buy products that they know are inferior to alternatives in the marketplace. And if you blame the media for overhyping “JapCrap” or “EuroTrash,” I would suggest that you are not a car enthusiast, or even a high school graduate. The reason that Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Road and Track, Automobile Mag, and Consumer Reports consistently pick the imported cars as the winners of their comparison tests, their choices for top picks, and their cars of the year, is that for the past decade and a bit, imports have been superior to domestics.

They have set the standard for fit and finish, fuel economy, efficient performance, chassis refinement and handling, overall build quality, and reliability. While there will be certain notable exceptions (VW’s recent reliability problems, MB’s complex cars that cannot be made reliable no matter what you do), the general trend has been established. So if you are calling the media biased, then you are calling them liars. Panel gaps are measured in millimeters (1 mm = 0.0393700787 inches, in case you have rejected the metric system as part of your America-first propaganda). Braking is measured in ft or meters. Acceleration is measured in seconds. Road-holding ability in G’s (where 1G = 9.8 meters per second squared). Steering effort and ride quality are largely qualitative, rather than quantitative, but handling tests consistently show a preference for imports. Motor Trend recently performed a quantitative analysis of handling traits, and their conclusion was that “cars…with prancing horses and propeller badges form the cream of the crop again and again” (MT 10/2008, p 98)

On the safety front, we can thank the imports for innovations in side-impact and side-curtain airbags. On the emissions front, the European Carbon Nazi’s (my informal name for the EU’s version of the EPA) has mandated cleaner running cars.

No doubt you will claim that domestic cars now have all these refinements, or are at least making strides to catch up. But the question is why? And the answer is competition. Competition in monopolistically competitive markets forces firms to differentiate their products to gain an advantage. This is due to the market principle that people are logical and will make logical decisions given the choices presented to them. While GM fanboys like NMOFGM may refuse to buy an import even if GM still made horseless carriages with oil lamps for headlights, most of the American car buying public makes logical decisions.

To summarize my argument:
Competition from import auto manufacturers has forced the Big Three to adapt to changing market conditions, and adopt manufacturing practices and performance and quality standards to maintain their competitive advantage. Therefore, were it not for the Americans that buy imports, import brands would not be able to apply the same pressure on the Big Three, and therefore, there would be less, if any need for product improvement. Driven a GEO Metro lately? If not, thank Hondayotasanbaru, and the multitude of European manufacturers for which I am too lazy to come up with a clever name. Were it not for import buyers, the American cars that NMOFGM loves so much would be a shadow of their current selves.

Others will buy out the pieces of GM that interest them and the world will go on (I promise). No need for government intervention.

I’d speculate that when the dust settles after the collapse of today’s “Littler and Littler 3″, we’ll have the Big 2, Toyota and Honda, Saturn/Chevy/Cadillac in GM, a smaller Ford, somebody’s pickem-up truck company and no Chrysler. If Chrysler shut it doors today almost no one would notice expect the poor folks that have worked there so long.

planet_drive: You’re misguided. That “crap sector of the population?” Look in the mirror!
Californians are more concerned about image than quality.
“Shows were smarter than most Americans.” What shows? And are these shows still smarter?

mayer_ray_nagin: “why is … the state bankrupt?” Failure to address its spending problems.

procrastinate now: good one.

vishus: “Some don’t read.” You obviously do. Funny how smart people don’t pick up what’s going on here.

steve333: again, it’s all about the smart people. good explainer.

jayjc08: …”and AIG doesn’t make or do anything!”

“regurgitated nonsense about how horrible the current automakers are.” Lot of people haven’t been in a domestic car since 1987.

ckron247: “Planet_drive you give people in California a bad name and an even worse image.” Hear, hear!

inline6: “Toyota, Honda, Nissan, et al, have been allowed to build plant after plant in our country without having to hire UAW labor, like GM, Ford, and Chrysler.”

They nipped that in the bud — at least Toyota did. You coun’t beg Toyota employees in kentucky to unionize!

hateful83: “I love how some people are like, ‘I don’t see how GM’s collapse would effect imports,’ when they spell it out in the article.” Those are the smart people. Us dummies got it immediately.

Rafa LL: Obama is a left-wing liberal (Not far-left, as hannity and those imbeciles will tell you), so he’ll come big with new social programs. I’d like to see him do more things that let the working man put himself ahead.

DrFill: good post.

mikeyg1975: apparently your friends don’t deserve to make a living. They only exist to be looked down upon by elitists.

A4: California is the largest state. Probably more smart people than anywhere else, but also more dumb people. But yeah, you can’t beat the Golden State for arrogance!

But at least we passed Prop 8!

When the tsunami hits, I may go first.

inline6: “The auto companies aren’t the banks and investment firms. They’ll handle this money far more responsibly.” Yep.

eff1Fifty:
I live in (far) Southern California, and I proudly drive a Buick!

DrFill: “No one is interested in buying the domestics anymore.” Nope.

olds307: “Problem is that GM cars last TOO long.” I’ve driven two GM cars more than 320,000 miles combined!

441Zuke: “actually get out of the sti and run off a cliff because the sti is worth more then your life.” That’s brutal!

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steve333: The Chevy Celebrity was supposed be be a huge piece of crap, but you still see some.

-”I needed to see how much better the Japanese cars were. They weren’t. At all.” Least it didn’t cost you money to find that out. But I disagree on the Mazda3.
“American cars are not bad at all was my discovery and you may find that as well if you actually drive one.” Why let actual research get in the way of pre-conceived notions?

Need more oil for GM: “Not only will you be a complete embarrassment to your country, but you will also be looked upon as a terrorist f&ck who sold his or her country to the swine of the earth (Japan, Germany). ” I guess pdrive has found his equal.
“It is your duty as Americans to support Americans by buying GM. ”
No, it’s my duty as a family man to drive a reliable car so i can support my family. That’s why when I “drive,” I drive a Buick.

Borat: “If you want to buy worthless crap, the last places you should go are Saturn and Chevy dealers. Maybe you can go to the used lots.

planet_drive: “I would rather see Ford go bankrupt first, that would finally mean an end to horrible cars with horrible reliability.” No, you’ll still see horrible cars with horrible reliability.

Need more oil for GM: “GM has proven it can build world class vehicles…” But it hasn’t proven thet it can SELL them!

DrFill

I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA AND THE STATE DOSE HAVE MORE THEN 600 MILLION PEOPLE, “FACT”
THAT’S WHAT U.S. SENSESENCE ESTIMATES WITH MY PEOPLE FROM THE SOUTH…..

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL POST BALE FOR THE BIG 3, THEY DID IT ONCE BACK IN THE EARLY 90′S FOR DODGE, THEY WILL DO IT AGAIN, YOU CAN BLAME BIG OIL FOR $4.50 A GAL. OF GAS, YOU CAN BLAME THE IMPORTS FOR DOING GOOD BUSINESS, YOU CAN BLAME THE WAR,

“THE TRUTH TO THE FACT IS, THAT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL BALE OUT THE BIG 3″

THE “OBAMA” ADMINISTRATION IS ALL READY TRYING TO FIX-UP A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, AND THEY ARE NOT EVEN IN OFFICE YET…

WELCOME TO THE RESETION, THANK YOU GEORGE W. BUSH, MAY YOU LIVE THE GOOD LIFE…
YOU KNOW HIS FAMILY DOSE OWN 40% OF EXXON MOBILE, RIGHT???

I’m relieved to hear that there are no bankruptcy plans because if that were to happen, all the import buyers could thank themselves. There’s a reason why GM is laying off workers by the thousands and why towns in Michigan are vitually turning to ghost towns. THE IMPORT-BUYING AMERICANS ARE THE PROBLEM. You people have no idea what a tragedy it would be for GM to go under.

Thank you for education. We now all running to buy worthless crap that you and you colleagues either produced or trying to sell. I can see line wrapping around Saturn and Chevy dealers.

I can see some hick-ups, but collapse, not likely. GM can’t afford to pay Johnson Control for their products anyway. There will be some time of turbulence, but when dust settles everything will move on. We don’t make black and white TVs in US either, and surviving.

Good.

I hope it puts all you import buying f&ckheads in the unemplyment line too. Time to pay the piper for your mistakes you unAmerican douchbags. You are an embarrassment to your Country and are no different the rest of the slime of the earth over in Japan and Germany.

Think about your future. Buy GM or face peril

HAHAHAHAHA might want to rethink that purchase next time you step foot in that Toyota or BMW dealership! Not only will you be a complete embarrassment to your country, but you will also be looked upon as a terrorist f&ck who sold his or her country to the swine of the earth (Japan, Germany).

It is your duty as Americans to support Americans by buying GM. Otherwise face the consequences of your mistakes.

We wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for the greed of the auto workers and their bloody union. No one should be bailed out, we should SUFFER through a catastrophic recession that wipes out the local auto industry and its auxiliaries. In turn, those communist bums that leech off everyone else by scoring $30 an hour and a lifelong healthcare/pension for drilling the same two bolts into a car over and over will be forced to get exit La-la-land and a real job where they actually have to EARN their remuneration.

Sometimes you have to crack an egg to make an omelet. The omelet is the Japanese auto industry model. The egg is the American Communist approach to industry.

Which makes it a sad state of affair given how the company that can topple the US economy is being run by Wagoner and the likes. So in effect they are holding the fate of the economy.

Anyways, I’ll bow down and admit that I chose a very poor example, regardless of the specifics.

But fine, you want another example, look at Bosh, or Brembo, or VDO, or BorgWarner, or ZF, oh man, I can go all day… All of these have many different customers, and many even work in different segments, not just car manufacturing, because they’re well managed and smart.

As for DrFill, sorry to break it to you, but I drive around the East Cost quite a bit, and I can’t stop seeing retards driving Suburbans in DC, Philly, NYC, and other large cities, when there’s no way they’ve ever spent more than 2 minutes off-roading in their lives. Worse, half the people are alone, now fine, they might have a family at home, but ****, they don’t need a 3 tone steel monster to get around in urban and sub-urban traffic. On a side-note, Texas was pretty funny when I was there and drove around, I’ll give you that…

On a side-note, I own a GM car, fine, it’s made in Sweden, but it’s still GM-owned (2003 Saab 9-5 Aero) but I must say that I have NEVER had any problems with it, minus a slightly bullcrap issue with xenon lights flickering, which required an under warranty replacement. Appart from that, just oil changes and for the first time in 5 years, brake pads + rotors.

I test drove a Corolla, Civic (pre Klingon Dashboard), Mazda 3 and Ford Focus. I knew I was going to buy the Ford, Mazda (controlled by Ford), or Chevy but I needed to see how much better the Japanese cars were. They weren’t. At all. The Mazda 3 was the best driving car but the interior was too tight, the Civic was underpowered, and the Corolla was the worst car I have ever driven.
American cars are not bad at all was my discovery and you may find that as well if you actually drive one.

plantdrive – you must be one of those people who walk around enjoying the smell of their own farts. people like you are exactly the reason i hate the liberal douche bags that propagate in California. take your STI and drive off a cliff. actually get out of the sti and run off a cliff because the sti is worth more then your life .

Dr. Fill, I’ve read some of your posts in the past and for someone that tries to pawn themself off as an intelligent free-thinker, you end up coming off as brainwashed and w/out the capability of your own thought unless you read it in Edmunds or Consumer Report first(both extremely biased pieces of automotive media).

True Americans love vehicles with capability. We might not always use that capability but we like knowing it’s there. Asian cars are nice but boring.

The “US market…..that’s simply wasteful and retarded” you speak of is called Texas.

DrFill