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This is part of a weekly series about the car business. The auto industry plays an important role in the global economy, and record-high oil prices and a global slowdown have contributed to a crisis in the sector. This column will highlight some of the interesting stories that emerge as that crisis plays out.

"These are truly unimaginable times for our industry."

Thanks to Bob Nardelli (and our pals at Autoblog) for a quote that captures the state of the American automotive industry. Who could have imagined just a few years ago, when Detroit was still raking in the profits selling fancy pickup trucks in a booming, bubbly economy, that the big American auto companies would have to go begging in the halls of Congress for a few billion dollars just to survive?

The quote comes from an email Nardelli recently sent to Chrysler employees, in which he announced that 25% of the company's salaried employees would be let go before the end of the year. Of course, the job cuts aren't referred to as such. Instead, in perfect corporate-speak, the cuts are called "right-sizing" -- "Working as a team, we have been right-sizing our organization to become as competitive as possible."

Detroit is right-sizing at a furious pace. General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced that it will cut 15% of its salaried workforce -- almost 5,000 people -- and then warned that it will need to get rid of even more. Equally grim, GM has stopped paying into existing employees' retirement funds.

The much-discussed GM-Chrysler merger would also result in some pretty serious right-sizing. Some estimate that Chrysler would fire at least half of its blue collar workforce of 66,000, on top of the 25% of its white collar workforce of 18,000.

Meanwhile, Ford (NYSE: F) is rumored to be considering selling its 33% share in Mazda. This seems particularly short-sighted, given that Ford will likely get only $600 million or so for its share in the company, which it has owned since 1979. Ford needs all the small car technology and expertise it can get as Americans continue to turn away from trucks and SUVs.

The bottom line is that the Big Three are getting desperate as they burn through billions in cash with no relief in sight. And they'll do just about anything -- mergers, spin-offs, massive down-sizing, foreign investment, government bailout -- to stay alive.

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