Seventy five cents. That's how much General Motors stock is worth the day before they filed for bankruptcy. The hundred year old company that it many ways was a symbol of the great strength and vitality of the US is certainly struggling.

But does that mean that if you own an American made GM, Chrysler, or Ford automobile that it's worthless ? Does it mean that if you're in the market for a new car that you shouldn't buy American ?

Absolutely not ! American made cars are made as well as ever and although these company's are currently under pressure like many other domestic and foreign companies in the global recession, they will continue to make quality cars for years to come.

Bankruptcy filing sometimes referred to as Chapter 11, which Chrysler and GM are going through, does not mean that the company is going out of business. It is a restructuring of debt through the court. While the process can be somewhat complicated, it is basically getting more time to pay the debtors, many times at huge discounts.

The filing allows the debt to be restructured and the company to show the court and the debtors its plan on recovering its’ ability to pay its’ debts and once again become a viable corporation.

While it's true that some companies never recover from Chapter 11 and must file for Chapter 7 which is the going out of business part, in this case that's not going to happen.

The main reason that these great company's have had to file for protection is that they've had to pay union wages and benefits much higher than foreign automakers for many years. They tried to make up for this by using lesser quality interior materials for instance and the American consumer looked the other way.

These same unions have been negotiating with the automakers and realize that they will continue to lose jobs if they don't take steps such as giving up fully paid health insurance for life upon retirement and many other perks.

As Chrysler and GM proceed through bankruptcy, they'll continue to make the high quality cars that consumers want and expect as they have been doing for the past few years.

Now more than ever, it's still a great time to buy an American made car.
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