The doors to Detroit's annual car show had barely opened to the public this week before the gloom set in. One local newspaper said that General Motors (GM) would make huge cuts to its American workforce this year. GM officials said that the paper had got its facts wrong, but admitted that about 8,000 jobs would go, largely through attrition, however, it said, rather than layoffs. Then David Cole, the respected head of the Centre for Automotive Research, suggested that one of the "big three" American carmakers could go bust. Even after a year of strong vehicle sales, relentless price-cutting has sapped Detroit's profitability. Health-care costs are mounting. Over-capacity is growing. That Mr Cole, usually a Detroit booster (and son of a former GM president, to boot), could evoke such a sombre scenario was chilling.
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