Bitter irony

In a bit of unintended irony, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online posted the headline at the right.

While the article forewarns of an early closing of the Janesville GM plant, the embedded ad is for Mazda cars.

This action is part of a massive effort by GM to save itself from bankrupcy. Losing $1B per MONTH, GM is caught between a rock and a hard place. Even with a handout from the U.S. government, GM has to rectify decades of bad (long term) decisions. They need to build fuel efficient vehicles, alternate energy vehicles, retool their brand and somehow pull this miracle off within the next 18 months (when their bailout gift and their line of credit expire) - without the option of extending credit to potential buyers.

The one thing going in GM's favor? The price of gas has dropped from extremely outrageous to just outrageous.

And now, there's talk of a merger between G.M. and Chrysler.

The notion that you can create one great car company from two troubled companies only looks viable when you have no other options. And GM is out of options.

Prediction: Whether or not this merger happens, without a second bailout, neither company survives past 2011.

I guess we'll still be able to buy a Mazda.