What's Next for The Big Three?

With all of the doom and gloom floating around the auto industry right now, many are wondering what the future holds for Detroit's Big Three.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler have been a major part of our nation's backbone through the 20th century as we experienced the boom and bust of the manufacturing industry in the U.S.

Their destiny will affect us all. The ironic part is that their current situation is not sudden or unexpected.

This day has been coming for over three decades. Japanese and German auto manufacturers changed the game when they first came to the States. The Big Three have been playing catch up ever since.

German cars are known for high performance and class. Japanese cars are known for innovation and dependability. What are American cars known for? Big, gas guzzling, and slow to change.

Seat belts, catalytic converters, more fuel efficient engines. All of which the Big Three fought with lobbying dollars on Capitol Hill. Why? It's simple. Innovation is expensive, very expensive.

Conversely, over the last ten years, foreign manufacturers have designed their factories to be flexible, in that they can be easily retooled to produce any model that may be in-demand at the moment.

So what's next? Chapter 11. For at least 2 of the 3. GM will file first, then Ford. Crysler will likely be spun off from it's parent corporation Daimler.

GM and Ford will consider all of their options: merge, buy Crysler, or sell to someone else. The smart money is saying that there are several Chinese companies itching to get a piece of the American Car Pie.

Of course, there's always that other option for GM and Ford: Innovate. Burn the current business model and draft a radical new plan. If they don't, other's will.

Speaking of which, Seth Godin has an excellent idea for that new plan.