[Ditto]

It's the American peoples fault for buying higher quality foreign cars. Damn them! Don't they know it's unpatriotic to buy the best product for their money?

Quality, aside from perception, is not the issue. It is costs. There is nothing wrong with the products Detroit produces.

Detroit simply is uncompetitive on a cost basis while the Japanese manufactures (in Japan or here in the US) are not burdened with the legacy costs Detroit has.

[billhilly]

"Quality, aside from perception, is not the issue. It is costs. There is nothing wrong with the products Detroit produces."

That is plain BS. My first car was a 1955 chevy, a truly great Icon of a car, and for the next couple of decades American made cars led the pack.

The several Cadillacs I owned were not built to last and none of them were comparable to the top of the line Toyota Avalon, which costs about $20,000 less.