Of course, in hindsight GM should have put more engineers on their small car lineup.  Nobody knew that fuel costs would soar though, killing demand for the SUV's and light trucks that GM had perfected over the years, and was tooled up to produce.  A company of that size, saddled with a belligerent union like the UAW, can't just turn on a dime.  Combine that rough scenario with a severe economic downturn, and you've got a "perfect storm" situation that I doubt any GM CEO could have pulled out of much better than Rick did.