If you look at history Henry Ford closed his plants occassionally as a means of reducing his costs to stay afloat in the hard times.
I never realised they sold so few Jeeps. By that report "normal" sales would be around 45,000 units per year. Holden in Australia would turn out more than that every few months and our market is around 15% of yours.
Looks like too many different types of vehicle built and sold so they aren't too profitable at the best of times.
I can remember reading somewhere that in the early 60's the big 3 were selling as little as 500 units of any one body style yet it would have cost an enormous amount to develop each style.
I think all 3 have been living on borrowed time for decades.
Smartest move in the Auto market was Daimler Benz selling off Chrysler before it took them down with it.
