> to want to pay Ford what Ford imagines its existing investments in obsolete technology are worth.
Why would they do that? I didn't mean to suggest a regular acquisition (i.e. company X buys out company Y's outstanding shares to become the majority shareholder); I meant to suggest that these companies will likely enter Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, followed by an acquisition by a PE firm that parts the company out and sells its assets to other firms, where the brand of the old company is one of those assets, and the assembly lines are another, and the same company might want to acquire both, or just one.
Keep in mind, also, that when you buy a factory, you aren't buying the technology that runs the factory. You'd strip that out and replace it. No, you're buying the real estate, the buildings themselves, the central location close to shipping. (Which might not even be legally allowed to exist due to current zoning laws for the region, but is only grandfathered in or uniquely lobbied in to "protect local jobs.") And you're buying the pre-established arrangements with logistics providers (ports, over-land carriers, etc.) to get cars from that factory to destination cities; and the pre-established arrangements with suppliers to get regularly-scheduled shipments of raw materials like aluminum alloys, thermoplastics, minerals and lacquers to mix paint from, etc. to the factory.
It's the same reason that, say, Target wanted to acquire Zellers in Canada. There was nothing of value in any given Zellers store or warehouse; what was valuable was the real-estate and the logistics pipeline connecting the stores to the warehouses. (Target failed in Canada, but that was because they began leasing the real estate long before they were ready to begin operating the stores, just to ensure nobody else jumped on the deal. So they started with a giant debt from months of paying rent.)