I'm not apologizing for the big three. I'm saying Ford has done a great job avoiding the mess GM and Chyrsler have stumbled into. Ford has been profitable in every market except for North America over the past few years. Ford makes great small vehicles that get the highest mpg, only they've been traditionally reserved for the european market. They need to sell those here. Anyway, the point is it's $17bn, not 14, and it's the big 2, not 3.
But the labor agreements and pension plans need to be brought down to reality to get the playing field leveled with the transplants (which are the foreign makers who are building cars here--toyota, honda, etc.). This is why the managed or orderly bankruptcy is key. It's happening and no one is going down. GM and Chyrsler might merge, but it seems like that will come after whatever it is they think they're going to be up to over the next 3 months to convince the government they can be viable and therefore qualify for further assistance, lol.