By THOMAS G. DONLAN

GENERAL MOTORS HAS LEARNED FROM ITS MISTAKES

There are those who say that the country cannot afford to let GM, Chrysler and Ford go bankrupt. They think the car companies and their suppliers are the core of American industry, which must be saved. Others add that the companies should be preserved and nurtured until they produce some breakthrough technology that lets them compete in producing cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars.

In an advertisement, maybe. But ads cannot make the American brands competitive, and neither can technology glimmering over the horizon. Industrial breakthroughs are rarely made with trade secrets or using new ideas that can be patented. Even now, there's little to stop a U.S. company from making a Prius-like car for less than Toyota's price, except union contracts, the cost of fringe benefits, ungainly corporate management structures and legal obligations to a network of hungry dealers. Oh, and a lack of possible profit.

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