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Management needs to be overhauled, obviously the people that are in charge don't have the desire to do their job without the private jets, golden parachutes, and other perks they get. Nor do they have the guts to stand up to the Union.
The Union needs to be broken up - the guy working on the line is not worth $30/hr. If GM were to close, his qualifications would likely put him in a job that makes between $8-15/hr. Legacy cost are an endless void that money is poured into. Why should someone who retired 20 years ago still receive medical benefits? GM needs to start acting like a business, and not a parent.
R&D needs better planning. The Volt for example, was a complete rush job - hell, the concept was shown prior to being wind tested. It wasn't till after the excitement over its looks had built that GM announced it was aerodynamically in-efficient. Plus, nobody seems to want to discuss the infrastructure for electric cars or long-term costs. Not saying alternative fuels don't need to be investigated - but there's much to be said from learning from other's mistakes, you don't always need to be the first to do something.
The problem with Chapter 7, Liquidation, is the impact on our already down economy. That could be the catalyst for sending us from a recession to a depression. The 1.6M jobs that would be lost is the direct employees, suppliers, and dealer network.
But if 1.6M people don't have an income, they won't be going out for dinner, to the bar, or on vacations, so the service and travel industries suffers. The media industry looses huge revenue from advertising cuts (and with less ads, come less designers/art directors/etc). So with nobody spending money, and with the financial sector being as locked down as they are currently, where does the money come from to be pumped back into the economy?
IMO the best solution is either a government take-over, or a bail-out with much fine-print outlining requirements.
Interesting chart showing just where the effects would hit hardest.
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