How much will it cost to bail out the Big 3

• $38 billion - That's the last number auto execs gave congress with GM asking for $18 billion, Chrysler $7 billion and Ford saying it might need $13 billion (WP)
• $75 - $125 billion - At the end of the day, according to Mark Zandi (WP)

The ripple effect

• Number of employees that work for the Big 3: 240,000 (Center for Automotive Research - a pro-auto industry research outfit)
• Employees for suppliers that depend on Detroit: 974,000 (CAR)
• Jobs that depend on the spending of Big 3 employees and suppliers: 1.7 million (CAR)

The relative cost of labor

• How much GM pays its US workers per hour: $28 (NYT)
• How much Toyota pays its US workers per hour: up to $25 (in their Kentucky plant) (NYT)
• How much a US worker costs GM when you figure in benefits: $74 an hour (NYT)
• How much a US worker costs Toyota when you figure in benefits: $45 an hour (NYT)

Downward trend - in market share (copied and pasted from WSJ)

Downward trend - in sales

source - copied and pasted from WSJ