Ford denied the bailout money. They were offered, they just didn't take it.
And Chrysler is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, which only means they get a deferral on the debt they owe to the creditors that didn't want to cooperate and buys them time to completely rebuild the company and get it up to snuff. Also, Fiat holds 35% of the company and the Government holds 50% so they aren't going to go away just like that. With Chrysler now bringing in Fiat and Alfa Romeo for the first time in something like 25-30 years to the US market as well as their own company, they will see a nice turnaround. Also it isn't a case where people won't buy from a bankrupt company, the whole reason they are in this mess is because they were building crap people didn't want to buy to begin with. Once they get their act together and actually have things people will want then they can actually sell some cars. There hasn't been a single chrysler product (not including the Viper, which was good in its own way but still a crappy car overall) that I have personally wanted since 1998, and those cars were technically Mitsubishi's.
As far as GM is concerned they will probably enter Chapter 11 as well, but they are going to great lengths to try to lessen the blow as much as possible by dropping low profit lines, they will come around as well with time. I don't think we have to worry about this being British Leyland all over again, these two companies will learn their lesson and move forward.
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2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SuperSport
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