by Dick Stewart

Created on: June 07, 2009

Sadly, the mainstream media has designated the supposed imminent collapse of the US auto industry as its disaster du jour. Potential buyers have been bombarded with scary scenarios that make buying a car with a Chrysler, Ford, or General Motors pedigree seem like the automotive equivalent of investing in Confederate currency.

There are few enough people out there with the cash on hand, job security, or access to financing who are seeking to buy a new car, without pundits scaring them away from dealers selling American-labeled cars.

Leading the fear-mongers' list are GM and Chrysler, the companies involved in bankruptcy negotiations. To be fair, a little perspective is called for.

General Motors (Soon to be pared down to Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac)

General Motors' Chapter 11 dramatics will result in the leaner, more responsive company that critics have been calling for since the days of the Corvair. No one need be concerned that the warranty or parts supply of any GM car they buy now will be threatened. Whether you will have a convenient dealer to take it to for maintenance and repairs is less certain, although with more dealers than anybody (one of the reasons for their troubles), even the reported closing of 2,600 will not make the search too demanding.

Certainly there are risks involved with buying a car with a label you know will disappear soon. That does not include those that will be under new management, like Hummer, Saturn, and perhaps SAAB.

But if you buy a Pontiac in 2009, for instance, you will want to be very sure that your lust is strong enough, and your deal advantageous enough, that in the years of ownership that follow, you will not regret your choice.

There will be no sexy new Solstice roadsters or coupes, nor any muscular G8 sedans after some time in 2011, but those are cars that have an appeal that to some discerning buyers may be more important than the orphan status of the brand, and the accompanying hassles of scheduled maintenance and parts availability. Moreover, if you buy for the long term, the uncertainty of depreciation is less a consideration.

Chevrolet is in it for the long haul, though. If your candidates include popular mid-size sedans, the Chevrolet Malibu has received multiple endorsements from such diverse sources as Edmunds ("on par with other top midsize sedans"), Car and Driver ("at last competitive") and Consumer Reports ("very competitive in its class").

In the three-row cross-over category, some reviewers

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