The Jan'06 issue of Playboy (Yes the rumor is true, there are articles ) has a very good piece on the current state of the US auto industry.
A couple of points I found very interesting was the use of Japan management techniques by a Ford plant manager and the influence of the German ownership to change the direction of Chrysler.
Another point was the disclosure by USA Today about the $1,500 per unit cost at GM for healthcare which is double the unit cost for steel. I believe most are familiar with this as it has been widely publicized. This point has been further revealed to say GM will spend $5.6 billion on legacy costs- health and retirement bennies- for past and present union members in 2005. These numbers are for 1.1 million workers in this category.
The interesting thing that I hadn't seen published as pointed out by the article, is the benefit package price paid to white collar retirees. GM spends $7 Billion annually for 450,000 retired in this category. The article states how the general media such as USA Today doesn't mention this data, instead pushing the union numbers as the problem.
I'm by no means defending the unions but I think GM management needs to "fess up" to this 7 billion weight.
The article goes on about executive compensation and the crazy numbers these people pay themselves inspite of the ongoing financial failings of the company. An example was how the exec-comp program kicked in during 2004 when the vehicle manufacturing division lost close to a billion dollars. GM's 2004 net profit of $2 billion came from the earnings at GMAC primarily through home mortgages. GM- "The Bank that makes Cars"