Auto Bailout Seems Unlikely

Gasoline prices are rising. Sales of Detroit's carmakers suffer as Japanese brands carve out a growing share of the American market. One of the nation's largest automobile manufacturers flirts with bankruptcy.

Sound familiar?

Just over a quarter of a century ago, the Chrysler Corporation teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, hobbled by falling sales, heavy payroll costs and bloated debt.

Today General Motors and Ford, staggering under the costs of providing health benefits for workers and retirees and with few cars that excite consumers, are still struggling to compete against their Japanese (and Korean) rivals. And now it is G.M. that is skirting the edge of financial disaster.

But don't expect a rerun of Detroit's earlier drama. In the late 1970's, car companies were considered too big and too important to fail. Washington not only put up trade barriers to Japanese cars and trucks, it also agreed to bail out Chrysler with government-backed loans aimed at preserving the company and its jobs.

By contrast, the government today shows no signs of hurrying to the auto industry's rescue.