The weird thing about GM closures was that GM seemed to be doing fine, and then they axed whole bunch of factories and discontinued most of the sedans and Chevy Volt.
To me, GM's closure was aimed at 'trimming the fat' to put more emphasis on areas where they are more profitable, a shift to the tech side of cars and in preparation for an economic downturn.
Cars are highly cyclical, which means future demand can be predicted very well. Cars are cyclical because they last for 5 to 15 years. When everyone is done buying new cars, there's a lull and car companies need to cut back supply.
"Everyone" is hurting because "everyone" is part of the same cycle in the industry. Ford, GM, etc. etc. have all closed plants in anticipation of the lower-demand over the next year or two.
