Why is it that foreign car manufacturers with plants inside the US don't have these problems? How many times do we have to resuscitate a domestic car industry that fails to keep itself solvent time and time again? The lost jobs are a tragedy, but the problem is MUCH bigger than tens of thousands of jobs. It's a problem of a fundamentally uncompetitive industry. Saving the jobs alone is just window dressing. We need to remake the industry in a more competitive mold so that those jobs are safe without subsidies and bailouts.
The Big Three and the American public are living in a fantasy world. We have to stop buying large, shoddily made vehicles in the numbers we do and start looking seriously at smaller, more economical and sustainable vehicles. We also need to treat our vehicles as less disposable than we currently do, which demands a better build quality for a longer useful life. The rest of the world learned this harsh lesson in the aftermath of WWII 60 years ago, but we have been able to shield ourselves due to our economic and political power. Now, however, the chickens are coming home to roost.
I'm not saying we can't have any trucks or SUVs anymore, but we all need to re-evaluate just how much we are willing to sacrifice in order to have that type of vehicle. It's no longer the case that we can have our cake and eat it too. The Big Three need to understand that their existence is not a given.
). My Impreza was built 7 years after GM bought 20% of FHI, and yet my window switches (and rear differential housing I think*) are Nissan parts. 
