Automotive journalist John McElroy, on his Speed Channel show "Autoline Detroit", mentioned an interesting bit of fiscal fallout. It seems that automotive suppliers must invest early to design and manufacture parts for new model cars. But they don't get paid until those cars go into production, 2 or 3 years later. So the suppliers have to take out big bank loans to pay for R&D and tooling costs.
But, these loans require that the ultimate paymaster, the auto companies, remain "investment grade" institutions. When GM and Ford's bonds recently lost their "investment grade" rating, the bansk called in the loans from GM and Ford suppliers. This caused a massive cash crunch among GM and Ford suppliers and has pushed some to "the brink of insolvency". McElroy says that the big automakers credit problems have "reverberated" through the auto industry.