This is a touchy issue because people are so emotionally attached to their vehicle and their loyalty to brands. It seems that if you drive a car and have good luck with it, you're somehow cooler than those who don't. So everyone's eager to offer up their own, individual anecdotal story about how they owned a brand X car, drove it for a million miles through an acid rainstorm over broken glass and it was the best car ever. So, based on that one story, brand X is the best brand ever. And that one brand Y car that had a problem is indicative of the fact that brand Y is essentially evil and anyone who drives one is a bad person. In marketing, few products have as much loyalty and consumer devotion as autos.
The big 3 are in a world of hurt and despite all the apologizing that fans are doing for them, excusing and explaining their sins of the past, they have made mistakes in business that typically are punished in a free market by bankruptcy. Similarly, "foreign" makers (most of their cars being made in Canada or America) have been rewarded by doing something right. Whether the issue is quality, engineering, good designs, longevity, styling, stigma, whatever, perception truly is reality.
As much as people are lighting torches and beating the "Buy Domestic" drums, you cannot argue with the fact that the big 3 screwed up. They just came through a very long and sustained period of historic prosperity in the economy. They should be rolling around in money. They should be stuffing the seats of new Taurus' with $100 bills. And yet, they have but weeks left until they fold. Sorry, you guys dropped the ball.
You may defend them and tell stories about how your daddy's 74 Merc was the best darned car ever, or how your 85 Rust-stang 5.0 was so cool, but at the end of the day most people are NOT BUYING big 3 cars. You're observations driving through your neighborhood and seeing people who prefer Caddy's to Bimmers cannot change the facts - the big 3 are being out done in the market.
While Dodge is trying to give away cars, the local VW dealer is having his best month ever. Honda's are selling like mad. Maybe they're truly better cars, maybe the big 3's cost of labor is too high (when the guy screwing dashboards on a Buick makes more than his family doctor, something's wrong) maybe they're designed better, marketed better, sold better, priced better - whatever. They're doing it better.
By the way, that Honda Accord, Acura TL, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, VW Jetta, Toyota Tacoma, etc. etc. etc. are all made in North America, using North American made parts.
