Reply #25: This is something so many are still struggling to "get." [View All]

[susanna]

And it is scary to me. The Big 3 are the last bastion of BIG manufacturing in this country, save airplanes. (I must note that airplanes are built to order, so they do not run thousands of vehicles through their assembly lines every day, and so are not necessarily germane to this particular topic.)

The Big 3 are some of the most logistically advanced in modern times. The dependencies in the automotive assembly process are so far reaching, it's really impossible to calculate. Except to say, if the Big 3 go down, a huge number of small manufacturing facilities in non-industrial states all over the US go down too. Along with all the service companies (janitorial, food service, etc.) that supply them.

My two cents. Fair disclosure: I am a former logistics analyst for the auto industry, so I do have some background on this topic.

on edit: typo