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We've been hearing a lot lately about banks who are "too big to fail" and if you're like most Americans it's making you more than a little nervous. Too big to fail brings on the connotation of needing a "bailout" or that if failure should happen, the world would be turned on its ear. Well, now they're applying too big to fail status to a new market, cars. GM and Ford are being listed as too big to fail and what that could mean to the market has yet to be determined. Many are not sure that they will even reach that point but since people are losing their homes and falling behind in payments they are finding that buying a new car is starting to slip beyond their reach.

Amid concerns about access to credit, low consumer confidence and precarious cash positions, the debt ratings of the U.S. carmakers have slid deep into junk range. GM, once AAA rated, is now a B-, and Ford is slightly above it at B. On Thursday, Standard & Poor's said it would consider further downgrading GM. And this week, industry forecasters said U.S. car sales would be down 20% this year compared with 2007.

It's a grim financial picture, but talk of the companies' filing for bankruptcy protection has been surprisingly muted. Financial and industry experts are speculating that the automotive giants may simply be too integral to the economy to go under.

"For GM and Ford to fail, some pretty catastrophic things have to happen," said Brett Hoselton, equity analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. "Then again, things are pretty bad now."

Beyond just selling cars, the Michigan automakers have a huge financial reach, representing millions of jobs in the supplier, sales and aftermarket sector; they each have stakes in large financial services companies selling loans, leases, insurance and, in the case of GM, mortgages; and their value as symbols of U.S. industrial might is something few politicians are willing to overlook.

Although 2008 is proving a tough year for all carmakers -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s shares have slid 46% in the last year, and Honda Motor Co. is down 38% -- the picture for Ford and GM appears much worse.

Both are struggling under the weight of automobile lineups long on trucks and SUVs and short on the fuel-efficient cars consumers suddenly want.

Bruce Clark, an analyst at debt rating service Moody's, acknowledged that "their balance sheets are very weak" but said he would be surprised if either company went belly up. "It's not that a voluntary filing can't happen, but the costs associated with the bankruptcy of an automobile manufacturer are generally too high."

For starters, both companies still have a lot of money on hand. At the end of the second quarter, Ford had $26.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and GM had $21 billion, which even the most negative analysis suggests should be enough to get through this year and most of 2009.

Both still have access to lines of credit and are expecting significant cost reductions starting in 2010, when many of their healthcare and pension liabilities to retirees and union workers will be reduced under a new labor deal.

In recent months, executives at both companies have revealed plans to cut costs significantly by reducing production and workforce; both have also floated the possibility of asset sales.

"We face unprecedented challenges related to uncertainty in the financial markets globally and weakening economic fundamentals in many key markets," Renee Rashid-Merem, a GM spokeswoman, told Bloomberg News on Thursday. "But bankruptcy is not an option GM is considering."

According to Clark, a bankruptcy filing would probably have terrible effects on the residual value of cars and their warranties, making it even harder to sell new cars as consumers gravitate to other, more stable carmakers. That, he said, means that carmakers would choose to stay out of bankruptcy far longer than companies that might normally see it as a way out of untenable financial straits.

But perhaps the most compelling argument against going under comes as a result of the companies' unique position in American industry.

Despite perilously small market capitalizations -- GM is now worth less than $3 billion -- the two continue to bring in massive revenue and spread their money over a huge number of people. With more than 350,000 employees between them, they are true Goliaths, and when one factors in the estimated six indirect jobs created by every Ford and GM worker, nearly 2.5 million jobs are tied to the Big Two (Chrysler is privately held). By comparison, the U.S. has lost about 760,000 jobs this year.

Add to that the deeply symbolic role GM and Ford have in the country's industrial history, and many believe that no politician would ever let such a failure happen.

To that end, just two weeks ago President Bush signed off on a plan to guarantee $25 billion worth of low-cost loans to U.S. automakers and suppliers, a crucial lifeline at a time when borrowing at any price is almost impossible for large companies.