Henery, I don't see hardly any reports any more about how bad American cars are in the press, compared to maybe 5-10 years ago, and I don't think there is nearly the perception anymore that American cars are junk. Yes, there are the occasional lemons, but that is not the problem. The problem is that managers and CEO's have no clue how to manage their companies (I say this having come from the 2nd largest automotive supplier in the world, and being a Tier 1 supplier to all of the automotive companies, both American and Japanese, in the US) US companies continue focusing on trying to emulate Toyota, but in a completely superficial way! Even my former company was doing it, although it was a German company. They roll out this "Toyota Production System" which is supposed to embrace all of the great things Toyota does in their factories (which they do here with American workers just like in Japan), with signs, posters, propaganda, speeches by upper level managers, but when it really comes down to it, it's all talk. When you say, I need this and this and this in order to make our system more lean, you get, "that's not in line with our goals, or that costs too much money", and then proceed to spend twice that for a consultant to come in and give a load of bogus advice and leave.
The Big (or not so big anymore) 3 say they cannot make cars here (or parts) any more because of overhead (labor), yet EVERY Japanese company came here and has succeeded quite well with American workers. And some do it WITH Unions, and some without, so that means, it's not entirely the fault of the Unions (and I'm no fan of Unions). And the working conditions are as good as at any American-run company, in fact FAR better than the conditions at a Ford Plant in Mexico! I bet you would be hard pressed to find someone who would willingly leave Toyota or Honda. SO, if foreign companies can come here and run their business successfully, with great benefits, salaries, and even unions, AND American cars are now perceived as having much better quality on par with Honda or Toyota, how can the Big 3 be doing so miserably?
