We’re way past “canary in the mineshaft” stuff, this kind of bad news from the auto industry is the miner in the mineshaft. From the AP story in the Globe and Mail (via Gordon), GM’s October sales dropped slightly by 45%; Ford and Chrysler “weren’t far behind.” Or to put it in perspective:
If GM’s sales were adjusted for population growth, October would be the worst month of the post-World War II era…
Felix Salmon explains the complex ins-and-outs of the situation:
GM isn’t very good at making the kind of cars that people want to buy.
He points to Justin Fox at Time, who a few days ago argued why big American automakers should file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy:
A GM bankruptcy would possibly pave the way for a rebirth of the company as a lower-cost, slate-wiped-clean entity with an actual chance of succeeding (I’m not making any guarantees here), and it wouldn’t threaten the systemic collapse of anything. What it would threaten are jobs, dealers and suppliers, and pensions.
Doesn’t seem like an easy political sell though, considering that little bit at the end about “jobs, dealers and suppliers, and pensions” — in other words, all the stuff that voters can actually see first-hand. Seeing those go can’t do much for consumer confidence…
