Doubt continues to grow on whether or not GM can avoid bankruptcy very soon. GM is backed into a corner with its well-heeled bond holders not budging and too many creditors clamoring for cash while the feds while away the hours on the doomsday clock.

Fiat has said that there's no better than a 50-50 chance they will work out a deal with Chrysler, which only has until the end of the month to get the deal done. Apparently Fiat has put some hard terms on the table that Chrysler may not be able to meet, including forcing some union concessions and participation that may be impossible.

Fiat has said that if their terms aren't met then they will walk out. Can you spell "bankruptcy" Chrysler?

And GM is having its troubles too, as the clock ticks toward its deadline. GM execs are openly talking about how to structure the bankruptcy now and even the "suits in the tower" are openly saying they are pessimistic about being able to avoid bankruptcy.

Crain, which knows Detroit's car makers better than anyone, reportedly has said that Chrysler is going to file bankruptcy in the coming weeks and that GM will follow before the end of May. Maybe. GM's stock price sure isn't anything to get excited about.

And Saturn? It looks to be going down the Chrysler road to outside ownership. Turns out that an investor group called Telesto Ventures is making a bid to buy Saturn from GM, and we all know how well that went for Chrysler when Daimler came to town. As part of the deal, they are reported to want GM to work with them to distribute vehicles for the next few years before they shift production elsewhere, reportedly overseas. Reportedly they intend to use the Saturn network to ultimately distribute cars and trucks made entirely by builders overseas. At the same time, GM is talking with its Saturn dealers about spinning Saturn off into an independent company if they have to, and if it'll work. Who knows where that's going . . . but Saturn's 384 US dealers are undoubtedly sweating.

Folks, if you've got a Chrysler or General Motors product with problems, now is the time to get it back to the dealer for warranty-covered repair work. If you've got a dispute with Chrysler or GM, or a lawsuit, you probably ought to think real hard about trying to get it settled and get money in your pocket while there is still money to be had.

Got a lemon car or lemon truck? Don't wait to get rid of it. If the dealer or manufacturer won't buy it back, call us. We've been getting rid of lemons since 1978. It's what we do.

It's not all doom and gloom in the Rv industry. Some folks are making success out of disaster too.

While others in the industry are closing down and giving up, Goshen Indiana's Specialty Window Coverings, which makes window coverings for RVs, is digging its way out by making something totally different with millions of dollars worth of fabric they had in stock.

"Well, we lost a couple large customers and we sat around and tried to think of different ideas how to keep people working. "What can we do?" And one of the ideas was to make these bags," said Randy Ferrie, of Specialty Window Coverings.

Donna Gould, the company's sales manager said, "I had a carpet bag that a vendor had given me for a Christmas present and I had it on airplanes before and 'Where did you get that bag? I'd love to have that bag!' And so, it just started evolving from there."

With 200 employees laid off, some of the 30 employees left at Specialty Window Coverings started designing bags and making samples. They attach tags that say "Made in the USA" and "putting America back to work."

The company says they're selling great too. "They love the bags," said Woods. "The bags sell themselves when they see the quality of the product. But when they find out the plight of this company and the need, everybody knows we're the RV industry, they are just willing to help and get on board."

Meanwhile, the company has been able to hire back 6 former employees just to make the fast-selling bags, they report.

And they aren't a bad deal, either. The bags retail between $30 and $35. For more information, call 574.533.8641 or e-mail dibag.sales@decind.com.

At least the people haven't given up.

700 Monaco Coach shareholders are likely stuck holding an empty bag of shares of stock after the company terminated them and filed for bankruptcy in March. Everyone agrees the stock has become virtually worthless.



When there's a bankruptcy, shareholders often don't get anything because there is not enough money to pay the bills, let alone return anything to the shareholders, bankruptcy experts generally agree.



In its bankuptcy papers, Monaco said that as of Sept. 27 it had more assets than liabilities — $442.1 million in assets and $208.8 million in debt. However the company has not yet provided a complete, current list of assets and debts that explains how it arrived at those numbers.



For now, Illinois-based Navistar International Corp. is reported to have signed a "nonbinding letter of intent" to buy Monaco’s core RV assets for up to $50 million, if the sale is approved by the bankruptcy court. If so, it could be completed by late June, according to documents Monaco filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.



There's still no word on warranty rights under the proposed sale, but you can bet that the big corporations aren't about to let those survive the bankruptcy filing in all probability because of the high risk and expense that would be carried over. Maybe, but maybe not.