Are The Wheels Coming Off in Detroit?

Take a look at your garage or driveway right now. (Go ahead. We'll wait.) If that car (or cars) you and yours are driving is anything other than a Ford, or is made in Asia or Europe, then you might just have yourself a collector's item.

Having already blown through all the government funds just to stay in business, General Motors and Chrysler were told by President Barack Obama Monday to get their act together if they want more money. They have 30 to 60 days to--among other things-- (A) get rid of some of their brands, (B) work with the unions on concessions that will likely be unpalatable to them, and (C) in the case of Chrysler, find themselves a new financial partner such as Fiat. Otherwise, we'll see you in bankruptcy court.

Obama has also taken the opportunity to replace GM's CEO Rick Wagoner, who's been accused of running the company into the ground, with Frederick "Fritz" Henderson. (Wagoner goes home with a nice parting gift of $20 million.) Leaving aside the legality of a President of the United States removing a president of a private company, Obama is simply responding to the national outrage over executives who prosper while their corporations--especially those who took government bailout money--fail.

It should be noted that Ford is not involved in any of this at the moment. They're not exactly in the best financial health, either.

We could point to a number of reasons why the auto industry is where they are today: lack of cars worth buying, failure to get on the hybrid bandwagon fast enough, competition from overseas, too many brands in too many dealers, and just plain arrogance. But we'd be stating the obvious.

So how does this help the typical American consumer, who has been forced to pinch pennies ever since Wall Street tanked and the job losses began? If there's still money left, is that person going to spend it on a car from a company whose future is in doubt?

Things will have to be very different if Detroit is to get back on the road to recovery. Until then, you might want to consider taking good care of the car you're driving now. Who knows? The longer you keep it, the more valuable it becomes. And someone might offer enough money for it so that you don't have to worry about your 401 (k) ever again.