All car companies are suffering a serious downturn in sales because their potential customers do not have access to credit to finance the purchase of a new vehicle. Ford, GM and Chrysler have that but they've also got an unsustainable business model as a result of the retiree healthcare/benefits liabilities they're carrying. That's where the unions [mainly the UAW] strangled them.
The combination of these two disasters mean that the three US auto giants are perilously close to collapse right now. If the credit drought prevails, then of course other auto manufacturers will follow them, but right now organizations such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda etc... are not suffering the double whammy that Ford, GM and Chrysler are.
And again, this has zippo to do with green issues. Remember a car is a large purchase that will require financing for most people. Until liquidity is restored, people will be unable to buy new cars whether they're more green or not.
If you haven't already, its worth doing some background reading about how this pension/healthcare problem came about with GM, Ford and Chrysler. Its a truely unbelievable course of events that should never have been allowed to happen.
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