"In the end, the last brands of the Detroit family of carmakers -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, Lincoln -- lost their souls. Since then Detroit has built ghost-cars, often rickety and always cold to the touch. Anyone who wants to understand the depths of the current crisis will need to drive one of these lumbering GM cars.

It's a thin line between optimism and naiveté."

“What will happen now is as clear as a halogen headlight. Comprehensive bailout legislation will be left to the new president and Congress. And every automotive interest group, or "stakeholder," will be lobbying hard to shape the deal to minimize its particular pain. The lobbying efforts will be fueled by a powerful sense of victimhood that already is evident.”

“China's government is considering providing support for the country's struggling car makers after sales dropped 16 per cent in November.

"What we experience is not a slowdown but a negative growth, a decline, the problem is very serious," Li Yizhong, the industry minister, said on Friday.”