[obermd]

With gas prices near historic lows when inflation is factored in, small car sales in the US have tanked. Even Toyota and Honda have seen their small car sales tank. If gas prices go back up (very likely if a Democrat wins the White House in 2020) GM and Ford will again be filing for bankruptcy again unless EV prices have come way down and the charging infrastructure is as commonplace as gas stations. I didn't include Chrysler as they haven't been a US company since FCA bought them. GM and Ford are both betting their corporate existence on Electrify America/Canada (a VW America/Canada company) to get a long haul recharging infrastructure in place and that their own in-house battery R&D and production will be ready to bring out BEVs (battery only EV) before gas prices go back up.

The big winner of this will be VW. Being caught knowingly cheating on diesel emissions gave VW the ability to look past the next quarter's profits and actually plan and start implementing a full electric fleet and recharging infrastructure. Toyota won't be the winner in this case; their Vice President of development recently said that he sees no reason to develop an EV and Toyota has been in bed with the Japanese government pushing Hydrogen Fuel Cells, which while it may work in the densely populated Japanese mainland, is very likely to not work when you have to truck (you can't pump hydrogen through pipelines) hydrogen everywhere.

 

[obermd]

Well, if the Japanese ever come out with a good diesel sedan, I know exactly where I'll be looking for my next car.

I really think the heyday of diesel sedans is past. Emissions requirements are to a point that diesel emissions systems are simply too expensive to design and manufacture. In addition, outside North and South America, diesels are being banned from cities for the local health problems they create. Even London's black taxis are starting to switch over to PHEVs similar to the Volt with their diesel models being completely phased out by 2025.

 

[obermd]

I have noticed you have not mentioned GM 's Cadillac division .
GM is betting big or fail with the new additions . Basicly all or nothing .

If by chance the new designs hit then GM will not have to worry about the outcome of the 2020 elections and just may back a DEM .

The U.S. is going electric and trucks are in the way .

What Brian is referring to is Mary Barra's announcement a week or two ago that GM will be moving all their EV development to Cadillac. Since Cadillac has higher MSRPs right up front GM is thinking this division can be electrified first without too much impact on vehicle price.

As for electric trucks, there are now at least two companies that have shown prototype BEV (Battery EV) trucks to compete with GMC, Chevy, Ford, Dodge, and Toyota. Both these companies are start ups and neither is Tesla. If these new companies can get their act together and get over the manufacturing hurdles that Tesla is still struggling with, then the big truck manufacturers may have some serious problems down the road.

 

[obermd]

The reason Ford never got the loans or "bailout" funds was because of filing deadlines from my understanding.

Actually, they didn't apply for them. Like any government money, the "bailout" money came with serious strings attached. Ford's CEO had managed to turn Ford around a couple of years before the mortgage collapse. While the mortgage collapse clobbered all US auto manufacturers, GM and Chrysler hadn't made the financial turn around that Ford had made.

And before you think Toyota weathered this storm, the Japanese government had to purchase a huge number of shares in Toyota during this same period, but the US media ignored this bailout.