[1camaro4me]

It is difficult to watch as thousands of small businesses close, and tens of thousands lose their jobs. It isn't good for the economy in the near term. It will be a long recovery.

Yes, there are other contributing factors: the economy as a whole, increased competition, historically poor QC that hurt their reputation, too many vehicles that people didn't want to buy, bad union contracts with unsustainable legacy obligations, etc.

Yet, the reality is that GM, "over-franchised" (if that's a word). Too many new franchises given out. Some weaker dealerships should have been bought out/consolidated years ago. Stale and unprofitable brands phased out long ago. The overlap of products should never have been allowed; basically the same vehicle cosmetically changed (slightly) and sold under 3-4 different GM brands. This was not a viable business model.

It's like the expression that the tree cannot grow taller until the dead branches are pruned.

That is the harsh reality of capitalism, and there is no better system. It isn't always pretty. Often is very harsh. However, when the basic tenants of capitalism are ignored the result is often even more brutal, ugly, and harsh. I think that is where GM now finds itself.