GM Chief (Executive) Rick Wagoner recently told Automotive News that in return for federal aid he was willing to accept limits on executive pay, offer the government (preferred stock) in the company and speed up the introduction of fuel-efficient vehicles.

Detroit has made a slew of mistakes over the years, analysts say, among them falling behind Japanese automakers in (hybrid) technology and not developing flexible (assembly) plants that could, when gas prices rose, quickly shift from producing (gas-guzzling) sport utility vehicles to smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

But now is not the time to punish the Big Three for past sins, said Dennis Virag, president of (Automotive) Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"I'm upset with the thought of the taxpayers having to (pony up to) save an industry that has made mistake after mistake," he said. "But then I look at the dire (consequences) of the collapse of an entire industry and I need to (swallow) hard and say, 'Let's get it done.' "