Cash for Clunkers Ford's Hero

General Motors has received a lot of scorn for converting itself into "Government Motors" but we must remember that Ford has also needed Federal help to stay afloat. Whatever you think of the Cash for Clunkers program, the beancounters at Ford like it. This is the quote that says it all (from the article in the link):

We were having a good month — and Ford's been having some good months lately — but the (clunkers) program really put us over the top for sure.

The bottom line is that the US auto industry is suffering all around. Without the Feds stepping in to save the day, all Detroit would be underwater. If you ask why, I will tell you that one of the biggest mistakes Detroit made was ignoring fuel economy. The oil price spike was big news, but over the last years we have seen consistently high gasoline prices. It looks like this will be a constant problem in the future. The price of oil is still historically high and could easily go higher. Detroit has to wake up and start making cars that sip gas at a rate that people can afford to pay.