You think you are seeing France commit suicide.
The French think the Americans are in a frenzied debt-driven bubble that will burst and spread around a lot of misery.
France as a whole does not want to embrace that model, and won't. The lack of leverage means that French business and industry grows at a slower rate on the upside. It also means that it does not fall nearly as far on the downside.
Peugeot, Citroen, Renault are not exciting industries rolling up the massive profits like Ford and GM once were. On the other hand, they have not posted the knee-buckling losses or careened towards bankruptcy either. They are boring, profitable industries. A comparison between GM and Peugeot, or between United Airlines and Air France, or between Alcatel and Lucent, gives a good idea of the difference between the French and the American model. The French would not care to swap in any of those sectors.
All of the companies you mention have been kept alive by Govt funding. To say that the French economic model creates more prosperity than the U.S free enterprise system is ludicrous. France is a has been dying cultur and country with a bleak future ahead. You are obviously a socialist to make the inane comment you did, all the economic indicators point against a socialist economy long term, the evidnce against socialism is irrefutable.