If you judged the fortunes of DamilerChrysler, Ford Motor and General Motors by newspaper headlines and TV sound bites, you'd think the automakers were shooting themselves in the foot as they stumbled into extinction amid sagging sales and shrinking market share.
All three, in fact, are doing some of the right things even if things are going badly.
Auto industry watchers Jean Jennings of Automotive Magazine and Dave Sedgwick of Automotive News shared their checklists with Sue Herera.