There is excess capacity in the industry, including in the pickup truck and SUV segments. If GM were to drastically cut its capacity in a Chapter 11 situation or go away in a Chapter 7 liquidation, Ford would look pretty healthy for at least five years and probably more. Its strong position in trucks and SUVs would enable it produce long runs at reasonable margins if it could get GM out of the way.

Of course there would still be the CAFE problem, the UAW problem, and the entry of Toyota into the larger models to deal with in the long run, but the picture for Ford would be a lot brighter if they could get rid of GM.