Amen to that.  The name of article implies a connection with the banking crisis.  That link is spurious.  American car manufacturers make an inferior product and are massively burdened with huge retired-worker costs and strong unions.  As a result, they have not been profitable and the recent petrol prices and now the funding crisis (due to the banking crisis) have brought them to the edge - sooner than they would otherwise have got there.  Foreign car manufacturers are not in this position and do not have the same history and it is absolutely *wrong* to lump them into this article.