[bamaboy]

Much of the problem with the domestics having financial trouble has very little to do with the quality of their cars, but more to do with the salaries and benefits they have allowed their production unions to trap them in. Domestic auto manufacturers seen their biggest difficulties when the price of gas skyrocketed about 3 years ago. At this time the gigantic land yachts aka SUVs were at the height of their popularity and business was good. The margins of profit for the big 3 was very tight, but there were profits being made. When the SUV market declined sharply the domestics realized they had nothing in their line ups to subsidize their sales of SUVs. The imports, namely the Japanese auto makers, had some of the best selling cars ready to go Accord, Camry, Altima, Maxima, even Hyundai has seen higher sales as a result of the domestics inability to seize the opportunity they had in the mid sized sedan market.

I do understand that imports, Japanese mainly, have a great reputation for their resale value and they reliability, but the domestics have made great strides in the development of their engine programs and have increased the level of reliability in their vehicles, they just have shitty exterior and interior designs. European cars have always carried the detriment of high maintenance and repair costs along with the high price at purchase. This makes them impractical for the larger percentage of middle class America who happens to be the largest part of the automobile consumers in this country. Japan has consistently offered slightly higher priced options that have carried a better track record of reliability and have had more attractive exterior designs. If the domestics would get over their foolish pride and actually spend some money on making their cars look decent and add a little better fit and finish then they would be in the drivers seat as far as getting the market share back in the good ol USA!