There's only one reason GM is undertaking all these plant closings and layoffs: it has determined what it needs to do to survive

Nothing like cutting over 14,000 jobs and closing assembly plants to make for some strange bedfellows. Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau and the UAW all hate it.

As with anything of this magnitude and complexity, there are several factors leading to the decision. Trump's tariffs certainly are one, as is the fact that the company never really fully got on its feet after the 2009 bailout. Demographic trends also figure in, with consumers shifting from sedans to SUVs and trucks, and people buying fewer motor vehicles overall. Milennials aren't even getting driver's licenses until later than their forebears.

A former GM executive's take that ought to get mentioned before the thirteenth paragraph of a story about it:

Former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said the automaker historically would have raised sales incentives to try to sell more cars before resorting to plant closures.

"Nowadays GM looks at the hard reality, says we've got a demand problem on cars, what are we going to do about it. We have to shut some facilities and move production to truck plants," Lutz said on CNBC's "Halftime Report." "So I think what we are seeing is a fast-acting and reality-oriented GM management."

It gets back to the LITD first law of economics: The money has to come from somewhere.