What surprises me most about the known template for the shrinkage of General Motors is how much of it looks like common sense.

Normally in these situations a group of very clever industrialists and economists retire to the boardroom only to announce a few weeks later a baffling set of measures that don’t sync with the reality of the car market.

But this time we’ve had talk of ditching Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn, flogging the European arm and getting rid of thousands of US dealerships.

It looks very harsh, and if you or your family are directly connected to such events, it must be horrific, but it’s what needs to happen if GM stands any chance.