With its announcement that it was planning to: eliminate 21,000 jobs with the closure of 13 plants; idle most of its plants for about two months this summer; cut the number of its dealerships by 42 percent; and sell part, if not all, of its GM Europe division, General Motors has officially stepped back from its position as the world's leading automaker.

GM had been tussling with Toyota over the last few years as the Japanese automaker's global sales have caught up.

But that is now over. The crisis at GM, which was set off by last summer's run up in fuel prices and then compounded by the Great Recession which hit in the fall, has forced the company, once the biggest and most admired in the world, to reevaluate its entire business strategy.

That has included seeking help from the government in the form of bailout loans, the forced ouster of its chairman and possibly following Chrysler into bankruptcy in order to force the hand of its debt holders and unions.

And so, like the great Ozymandias, General Motors steps down from being "king of kings" to assume the status of second banana - with Ford very much in its rear view mirror!

- Peter C.T. Elsworth