GM admits "substantial doubt"

I guess you have to admire General Motors for having the guts to state flat-out this week in a government filing that "substantial doubt" exists about the struggling auto/truck maker's ability to survive.

On the other hand, it's a crying shame this once-behemoth engine of Detroit-- and this goes for the other members of the Big Three, too-- did not get real with itself long ago.

Had they had the courage to really, fully, deeply examine what they were doing over the past 20-odd years-- indulging America with wave after wave of SUVs and gussied-up pickups among other poorly thought out strategies-- this economic hurricane the whole world is dealing with would have only buffeted them severely and not have threatened to put them right out of business.

As reported on CNNmoney.com, the statement by GM's auditors "presents another hurdle the automaker will have to clear as it makes the case that it deserve additional taxpayer support going forward. The Obama administration, under the terms of the $13.4 billion in federal loans GM has already requested, must determine that the company's plans make it viable in the long run."

We can only hope things will look this good for GM...

It should be noted that, as the CNNmoney report points out, "the government has wide latitude in how it judges the company's net present value, based on assumptions it makes about future sales, car prices and costs for the company going forward. The administration clearly does not want to force the largest U.S. automaker into bankruptcy."

Indeed. No matter how much we all may like to figuratively wring GM's neck for getting into this big a mess in the first place, I really don't think anyone wants to see GM disappear. Least of all fleet owners who haul the freight this giant generates nor those owners who run GM and Chevy trucks in their fleets.