If GM ever does file for bankruptcy it will get ugly for the nation.
 
I forget exact numbers, but GM counts for a significant amount of our economy. 5% of so? Can't remember.

So, Karl, what can GM do to reverse the slide? Or is it too late?
  
Here is my quick take -
  
  
Product is king –
  
Obviously desirable product is still the key to an automakers success in today’s global market. It would seem that GM has finally (or is beginning) to realize this. They have come out with some desirable products and the press has been praising the future models coming to market in the next few years.
  
The question is - is it to late? Will the years of sub par product and poor brand perception be too much to overcome? Can GM get consumers to try their new products? The GM loyal will continue to buy. It is the conquest customers that GM so desperately needs.
  
Too big –
  
GM also needs to realize that the days of 30% market share are gone. They need to set a goal to become a profitable entity with a 20% share of the U.S. market. It will not be an easy task by any means. Their current capacity and workforce is built around controlling a much larger share of the market. Unfortunately plants need to be closed and the workforce must be trimmed.
  
Survival –
  
GM can survive and be a healthy and profitable company again. It will not be easy and will require many difficult decisions by management and the unions alike. Product is still king, but GM needs more than just great product to survive.

Part of the problem is perception. There's a generation or two that have bought nothing but Japanese brands, and who believe that GM (or Ford, or Chrysler) are incapable of building products that equal Toyota, Honda, Subaru, et al.
 
That perception—be it correct or incorrect—will take years to change, and GM doesn't have years as a luxury anymore. From what I can see, the future looks grim for GM.

I agree with all of your main points on GM's turnaround requirements. Ironically, I think it's the second point (getting smaller and reducing capacity) that will prove toughest. There are plenty of powerful entities that don't want to see GM shrink, and they will fight it every step of the way. From their points of view they must fight layoff and plant closures...but bottom line: IT MUST BE DONE!
 
One other aspect of their problems that I think plays a major role, but isn't clearly called out by most analysists. The company's size not only makes it slow to respond and keeps it over-burdened by cost, it also makes it hard for any one person to:
A. Have a vision and
B. Execute on that vision
 
Ghosn turned Nissan around by basically having adequate (really, it was absolute) power to make sweeping changes. I think plenty of people inside GM know what has to happen, but I don't see any one of them actually EXECUTING on these things. Wagner? Lutz? Cowger? They all seem caught up in their own little wars over things like design or profit margin or market share, etc., etc.
 
I see the need for someone to either rise above all this minutia, or to come in from outside where they aren't already caught up in it, and tackle the major problems with real focus and authority and speed.
 
Unfortunately, I don't see this happening...at least not before it's too late...

I personally think that with the way everything is going GM's best course may be bankruptcy. I know it seems to be like a bad thing but here is why.
 
1. Pensions and Healthcare are killing GM its the next biggest cost to steel for GM. Bankruptcy would allow them to reform their pension and healthcare programs.
 
2. It would allow GM to clean up its act with it subsidiaries like GMAC, negotiate contracts with subcontractors & vendors. (they could also merge with bankruptcy bound Delphi and reduce overhead, some people think this is a bad idea but Delphi is dead unless they make some serious changes, GM & Delphi could both enter bankruptcy merge in bankruptcy consilidate operatiosn and debts and come out smelling like roses because they are mutually saving millions of dollars in reduced operations and shared exspenses)
 
3. A bankruptcy now would be much easier to recover from than say in 5 years when the current problems plauging GM will have festered and grown.
 
Can GM change the opinion that they make cars that are subpar to imports?
 
Definately, my brother has a 1991 Electra Park Avenue with 785,000 miles on it, just oil changes, spark plugs (wires too), and brakes too.
 
GM makes good cars, has good content, it just needs to improve the perception of quality.

I think it's pretty obvious that GM is going to lay off lots of people and close plants in the next few years. The shrinking everyone is crying about it is going to happen one way or another. GM's products are the best they have ever been but it's other issues are going to take more than great products to resolve. GM is too big of a company to go out of business so I'm not quite sure what this "I hope it's not too late" stuff is all about. In one form or another GM will be around, even if they end up being significantly smaller than Toyota. About that Toyota thing, I read articles every day about Toyota "passing" GM in sales but those article never mention that GM doesnt even compete in Japan which is one of the world's largest market. GM's main focus has to be on staying #1 in America and right now they are almost double Toyota's share in the US.

Doesn't GM have too much money to legally declare bankrupcy? I'm not sure they could just do it at will like many people seem to suggest that they do.
 
Anyone familiar with how bankruptcy works?

GM’s problems are not related to their workforce or healthcare. GM’s problems lie within it’s management, engineering, and design.
 
GM’s design team is totally out of touch with what the buyers want. They build cars that are tasteless and lack appeal; both exterior and interior. One exception might be the Pontiac Solstice.
 
GM’s engineering team must have come from the bottom of the class. This is evident by their piston knocking, intake manifold leaking, Vortec line of engines.
 
GM’s management has pushed their supply chain to the brink. They have mandated cheapening their parts to the point of premature failure in the name of boosting profit margins, so execs can get a big fat underserved bonus checks. (Rear axel bearings should not fail at 40K miles).
 
I have owned one GM and it will be my last GM. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the domestics that should be offering 10 year 100k mile warranties. That’s the only way I’d buy another one. Never again will I overpay for a pile of junk. What I mean by overpay is the fact that they can offer $4K rebate with an employee discount and still make a profit on the vehicle.