I find it interesting that everyone's in such a damn hurry to point a finger at someone or something as the sole reason for the auto companies woes. It's always either greedy exec's, (funny how that doesn't translate to the financial companies ) , the union workers (because there's no other unions in any other industry ), the government officials (because they do such a GREAT job at everything else ), etc. etc.

In all honesty, it's a combination of a lot of things. Do the exec's make too much money, yes. Have the union employees got pretty much everything they wanted for years, yes. Does government interference screw things up, yes.

What I find interesting is that nobody has mentioned the fact that many people don't have the disposable income that they have had in years past. Many people got a new car leased every 2 years, that number has dropped WAYYYY down. People are making their older cars last longer and longer.

Everyone wants the American auto companies to compete with the Japanese. With the imbalance of trade that's almost impossible. Toyota's been getting subsidized by the Japanese government for decades!

Honestly, just about EVERY industry is in a slump right now. The 2 largest purchases most people make is a house and a car. Last time I checked, the housing market wasn't doing so hot either.