"And Then There Was One" Distilling the Big Three into a single player could save Detroit.

The companies that once ruled the road are husks of the mighty institutions that they once were. Now they have less than half the U.S. auto market and will lose a combined $30 billion this year. Together the companies are burning through nearly $6 billion a month, and General Motors and Chrysler say that by the end of the year they will be bankrupt. They plan to head back to Washington this week to beg for a bailout.

There will be hurtles like a powerful union, strongly independent dealers and a complex network of suppliers. Simply if the enterprises continue to squabble it is likely to make matters worse. But there is a way to fix the prioblem. Chrysler, the weakest player, could fall, leaving the two other companies. GM and Ford could eventually end up together by choice or force of being broke.

The Past has shown companies grouping together. Like Boeing grabbed up all U.S. civil-aircraft business, acquiring its chief domestic rival McDonnell Douglas in 1997. That allowed Boeing to take on the true competition: Europe's Airbus. Beginning in 1986, more than 35 American steel makers went bankrupt. In 2002, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross agreed to buy up bankrupt LTV Steel, setting off a merger frenzy that saw 17 companies shrink down to three, while financial results reversed from a $1.1 billion loss in 2003 to a $6.6 billion profit in 2004. So if the companies choose to join together they chances for economic rise is great, as it has shown in the past.

I agree with Keith Naughton, if the companies join they can group their resources together and pull themselves out of there hole. sure the companies don't want to but if they don't get the bailout or the bail out fails they will surly have to collaborate. We need to start playing to win instead of trying to be the "top dog" of the auto sales in the U.S.

"Japan has 4 major automakers on the global stage: Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Mazda. Germany has 3 major auto companies: Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagon-Porsche (I put them together since Porsche is buying a controlling stake in VW). China has a multitude of automakers, but really a couple of powerhouses in Chery and SAIC. What do all of these companies have in common? They are protected and supported by their nation's governments. all of these automakers receive a great deal of support from their respective governments. Americans are foolish and naive if they truly believe that other countries approach their domestic industries on a "stand-alone, fail-alone" basis as the US seems to do. Other countries recognize that manufacturing is a vital component economically, psychologically, and from a national defense perspective. The United States must stop acting as if every other country is honorable and fair, and start playing to win. Only then can our automakers hope to compete on a playing field that is skewed at a global level, and not just on the dealer's lot."(From the comment section on the newsweek page.)