Foreword
The past year was one of the most dismal ever for Detroit’s Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors (GM), and Chrysler. Overall sales in December were 35 percent lower than the same period in 2007, even as gas prices plummeted. Sales of sport utility vehicles, which used to generate profits, were down 51 percent. Suddenly, the Big Three — pillars of the U.S. economy throughout much of the last century — were on the verge of going out of business. How did this happen?Thirty years ago, the automakers were staggering due to the oil shocks and economic turmoil of…
