What if you dug deeper and found that the steel-lacking factories were the ones which made the worst cars ?

I think that's the default analogy you should be making when you see cells "stopping".

This idea that cells that stop processing, or that undergo apoptosis (cell death) or are incapacitated by free-radical damage / oxidation should be "saved" is probably a mistaken one.

It's probably a much better outcome that they die.

For what it’s worth though, I think there are plenty of examples of car factories closing down because they are unable to secure a supply of raw materials. The machinery and the workers are all still there, but for whatever reason the owner stops sending steel to the plant and it shuts down.

Make of that analogy what you will.