I wanted to just add to Lynne's Ford post below:

Ford's production cut means it will reduce its output by about 168,000 vehicles. In accordance with union agreements, workers will still be paid while their factories temporarily go dark. The company named continued high gas prices as the main culprit, resulting in greatly reduced demand for SUVs and its popular F-150 truck line.

This meme of consumer choices messing up the American automakers business is just plain bunk and frankly I'm sick of hearing it.

Foreign automakers do virtually all their U.S. assembly in the United States. Yes, they have some advantages with regard to a younger work force and lower health care costs. But these are issues that could have been resolved for GM and Ford in the first Clinton administration had they gotten solidly behind the Democratic push for national healthcare. They chose instead to stick with the low lying fruit, indulging the American huge car stupidity and by not investing in cars designed for the future. Only a moron was not able to see the petroleum writing on the wall. Only a moron would assume that any changes in gas prices are "temporary". Only a moron will assume that the future is not fuel efficiency or new technology, regardless of gasoline prices over the next six months.

Finally, let me share with you a personal experience. My wife and I just bought a new car. It's a Toyota Camry hybrid. It's rated at 38 mpg city, 40 mpg hwy. In practice, we're getting ~34 mpg city, likely due to living in a hilly area. When on the flatlands, 40 mpg looks quite easily attainable while freeway driving (we haven't gone on a long trip yet) looks like we could attain 50 mpg.

Mind you, this isn't an open air-odd looking vehicle (see pic above). It's got GPS navigation, leather interior, plenty of room for five, a great ride and 190 horses along with every other bell and whistle that can be had on any car today. It more than could meet anyone's needs. And did I mention the gas mileage? The range on a 14 + gallon tank is over 500 miles, an easy 40% improvement over my previous Honda Accord. And the Toyota Camry is not the hottest car they sell. That would be the Toyota Prius with a rating of 51/60 mpg @ 110 horsepower and a price tag well under $30K.

We had to wait in line for about four weeks to get our car AND pay a premium on top of the MSRP because it's such a desired vehicle. And meanwhile, Ford is laying off 1/5 of it's workforce?

No excuses. In a capitalist economy you either meet demand (and anticipate demand) or die. So if the American automakers die, so be it. Any bail-outs will merely enable the same stinkin' thinkin'. And what about the employees? Government (the voters) have a responsibility to step in with unemployment, training, and relocation assistance as it's penalty for enabling American automakers (I'm talking to you Bill Clinton for approving the lower CAFE standards and SUV give-aways).

American over-bloated-self-indulgent-greedy attitudes have got to change in many areas. Our use of petroleum is one of them and we can either do it willingly, or kicking and screaming.