Restructuring the Carmakers: What It Means for Consumers

Both GM and Chrysler will be restructuring their businesses under bankruptcy protection. After GM announced that it failed to convince bondholders to a debt-swap, the U.S. automaker appears heading towards insolvency. That could mean the federal government will get a 70% ownership stake in a post-chapter 11 General Motors. And Chrysler ended a marathon hearing in bankruptcy court Wednesday as it tries to get approval to sell its assets to Italian automaker Fiat. For the details of how two such large-scale bankruptcies work and what the aftermath could look like, The Takeaway talks to New York Times auto reporter Micheline Maynard and bankruptcy expert John Pottow, Law Professor at University of Michigan.