Over the past several years, the automobile industry has been in a period of dramatic turbu- lence. There have been large movements in gasoline prices, taking retail prices to their highest real values ever (Energy Information Administration, Short Term Energy Outlook, January 2007). The Ford F150 pickup fell from its longstanding position as the highest selling car in the . in favor of the Honda Civic (Automotive News, June 5, 2008), while GM lost its position to Toyota as the worldwide leader in new car sales (Barron's, January 21, 2009). Fi- nally, the deteriorating nancial situation of the major . car manufacturers led to special hearings before.
