Will the bailout for the automakers come too late?

readytoretire answered one year ago …

In terms of the general economy, it is already too late. After Congress decided to act like they really care how they spend our money, the market responded accordingly. As more companies announce layoffs, the number of people who are planning on buying a new car is going down. As that happens, the result of keeping the automakers around will not save anything, as the cars will be on dealers lots, and no one will come look at them. The current people who come look at cars find that banks are not interested in loaning unless they are sure that they will get paid back. Heard Chevrolet went out of business earlier due to only 1 in 7 people qualifying for a loan.
Unfortunately, I think that Congress will eventually agree to bail out the automakers, but it will not save them, as they will be making products for no-one. Sort of like having 10 million cars and 8 million buyers. The automakers have made some changes, but some, like the union agreement with GM, doesn't really take effect for a while.