Let's see, I buy a "foreign" auto (though assembled here, and most of the parts are from here) because it is better and it is what I want, but I also end up having to buy part of an American vehicle through my tax dollars.

What will they think of next, bridges to nowhere...;)

We bailed out Chrysler once already and they paid back their loans. Lee Iacoca rebuilt the company from the ground up. All their vehicles accept for pickups had 4 bangers.
I think the insider's are purposley trying to destroy the domestic industry. Our country is being destroyed from within.

Just like the Airline industry, they deserver their greediness. God is just! GM, Ford and Chrysler should all go under, they don't deserve to make cars for Americans or any other country. GM especially for creating a electric car and the throwing them away. Greed kills and American automakers are reaping their reward. Toyota rocks, Honda, Nissan, and Subaru!

"If an automaker or company refuses to remain competitive shouldn't they have to suffer the consequences on their own?"

Yup. The American auto companies want to keep the mentality of the 50's and 60's when they essentially didn't have any competition and could turn out crap and people would by it due to a lack of options. For some reason, they just refuse to realize that there are other products out there and many of them are better AND cheaper (others are just cheaper or better). Considering how many American vehicles are made in Mexico and Canada (and how many Japanese and German cars are made here!), the media is highly dramatizing the job losses that would result from US car companies biting the dust.

Why should citizens be forced to pay for crap cars to be built when the majority of them don't even WANT those cars?

American auto makers need to get with the program. They need to quit making every part on a car specifically for THAT car. I don't mean putting a different name/brand on the same car; I mean making all the cars share large portions of identical parts. It shouldn't matter if I want a 2.2litre Ecotec or a 3800 v6; they all should directly interchange in whatever vehicle has whatever engine. Transmissions should be physically identical (bolt-up and operate with any engine), and all the underhood parts NEED to be common to all vehicles from that manufacturer. They can make the body different, they can change the suspension, brakes, glass, interior, etc. But they need to have a unified "power module" of sorts. They keep trying, but they keep failing. I'm convinced that GM makes more money off of selling parts than they do cars!

Speaking of service, American cars are more expensive to fix than most Asian "imports." They've gotten greedy; If your car was produced after the 2000 model year, theres a significant chance that if you replace a simple control module, you will HAVE to go to the dealership to have it "programmed" for your car. Essentially, they're just taking $100 from you, just so they can touch the car. There's NO REASON to need to "flash" my fuse box...other than it won't work if I don't pay you to do so. Even as a professional technician, I still do not have access to the equipment needed to program these modules (it doesn't matter the manufacturer).

See the European car makers decided they're better than everyone else and only wanted their "trained" technicians to work on their cars. So, they made it that nobody else but the dealership could replace modules. Obviously, because it would give them a bad name if everyone found out that *gasp* they ACTUALLY go bad. I mean, let's not forget the cracking wires in the mid 90's Mercedes.....

Chrysler has always hooked up with the wrong manufacturers. Mitsubishi's 3.0litre and 3.5litre engines are solid, but after Chrysler re-engineered them it to 2.5litres, and 2.7litres, somehow the reliability got left behind. The Mercedes-designed Hemi engines are lackluster. The top-of-the-line Hemi still can't keep pace with GM's LS7; only Chrysler's mighty (and heavy!) V10 can do that job. The cars look like (here come the flames!) boring European cars. When they try to re-introduce a classic automobile, for all that's holy, don't make it look like every other car you make! Charger, Challenger, C300Hemi...... they're all very powerful, but do they look like the classics? Not even a little bit, aside from some silly paint and a name badge.

I could go on for hours about why American auto makers are failing, but I think everyone gets the idea

The failing 3 deserve what they get. My former college room mate had a crappy American car that was brand new, but it had many problems. Finally, after no resolution after many visits to the dealer's auto shop, he had decided to sue. A few weeks later a bunch of lawyers came to our place. They had agreed to pay
him a lot of money and took back the car. The requirement for
the payment was that he drop the case and mouth shut.
The amount he got paid was very large for college and more than enough to buy a good new house. He had used the money to buy
a new car, which was a Toyota. The car had no problems.
The American auto companies need learn from their competitors if they want to compete when it comes to management, customer satisfaction and quality. Many years ago the Japanese had learned to build cars from the Americans, but their quality was not the greatest until they had learned about quality from a guy
named Dr. Edward Demmings. Dr. Demmings had consulted
with the big 3 auto companies that had told him to go away with
his ideas of quality and management. He did go way. He want to Japan and around the world. Things might have been different if
the big 3 had listened the guy who was right on! They have no one
to blaime but themselves. Look at Toyota stock and compare to the big 3. TM is kicking their butts.

"The American auto industry is in deep trouble and they may require subsidies," said Brown, a three-time U.S. presidential candidate and former California governor. "They may have to be bailed out by the federal government that has just enabled their inefficiency and their gas guzzling."

"The auto companies are in such a mess, because they persistently refuse to build fuel-efficient cars, that they might find it financially impossible to do the right thing,"

Actually, the reason the three built these fuel-inefficient vehicles is because lots of thoughtless people bought them and money was made selling them. If people wanted fuel efficient cars they would have sold out and nowhere to be found.

Well well well hehehe.. Lookie whos on their knees now? A few years back all the domestic dealers said that Toyota would never be number one.. Heres your lesson big boys.. Dont spit up into the air.. Youll never know where it will land.. In this case karma has a funny way or bitting you in the ass! You built big mean gas guzzling machines.. You went to war with Iraq for no apparent reason.. You hiked gas prices.. You continued to make giant gas guzzlers.. Sorry jimmy but looks like your all out of life lines.. I hope to see GM, Chrysler and GMC down in the dirt where they belong! Shitty service! Shitty cars = Shitty corporation! Let the real winners step up to the plate! Take your shitty corvette and you damn ugly chargers and mustangs and shove them where the sun dont shine! I am a Toyota owner and I approve this message. Open your eyes America! Your greed and your stupid pride cost you your number one corporation! Like they say pride is the sign of a foolish man! or should i say country.. tehehehe

"If people wanted fuel efficient cars they would have sold out and nowhere to be found."

actually bob heres the story.. Total sales for Toyota in Quarter one of 2007.. 1.6 million sold.. Total sales for GM in quarter one of 2007.. 1.4 million barely! The numbers speak for them selves. Imports are flying off the lots faster then GM scratches their asses wondering why they cant sell their shitty cars!

I think it boils down to corporate attitude about their products and customers just because they're an American company everybody must buy American to support the American workers. Well, guess what? Since they continued to bury their heads in the sand the competition kicked their butts and they are so late in the game in trying to play catch up I have to wonder if they can ever turn this problem around? I own a 2006 Honda Civic which is 80% built in America and 20% in Japan and I have to say it's a very well built car. It withstood some major beating on the road for the past year and it still runs as if it was brand new. So I am very happy with the car. If the big 3 decide to change their attitudes just maybe things might look up for them. Meanwhile, I will continue to buy Hondas until they too decide to bury their heads in the sand which is very doubtful anytime soon.

"I am a Toyota owner and I approve this message."

I love Japanese econo-cars (for daily drivers), but good God, why are you supporting the most dreadfully boring and blandly styled of the Japanese companies? At least go with Scion and have a touch of style!

A lot of foreign companies get government subsidies and tax breaks. Something to think about.

But the US companies still need to get with the program and build more fuel-efficient cars.

@Remy LeBeau: Toyota owns and manufactures Scions.

Let them burn. I swore off American cars years ago, not because of the fuel economy (which is comparable in many cases), but because the quality is terrible. Once something does break, the customer service is, with few exceptions, abysmal.

This situation has one major contributor; union labor. Forcing someone to employ you will guarantee two things:
1) You will lack the motivation inherent in needing to produce good work to keep your job, resulting in poor quality.
2) Thanks to your union's irrational salary demands, your company will be forced to move production offshore to simply stay in the game, let alone get ahead.

So, anyone laid off in this scenario is just getting the natural result of organized labor. Good work. Maybe when companies could legally force you to work 12x7 unions did something good, but now they're just a euphemism for useless laborer slobs.

The Big 3 have subsudiares in Europe and Asia - how about learning from them and retooling their US plants with cars already designed for efficiency and reliability. I am Australian and we don't import many US cars because of their crappy fuel economy and lackluster built quality. Time to join the rest of the world!

I know it's all in vogue now to bash America - especially for those who have an axe to grind - but I've purchased Honda, Nissan, Toyota, GM, Ford and Dodge vehicles.

By far the best vehicles I've owned have been Ford and GM, followed second by Toyota and Dodge. I've had the worst luck with Nissan.

My ratings are based on cost to repair vehicles, service, and overall reliability.

I'll continue to buy domestic vehicles because they make cars that Americans want and are the the best to own in my personal experience. I'd rather not own a deathtrap even if it gets great mileage because I've been in more accidents than I should have - too many uninsured motorists and too many people not paying attention or not realizing how they need to slow down....

Maybe those who slam the big three have never tangled with a truck or a semi.... Probably not - if they were they would be roadkill and wouldn't be able to post here....

I've had the unfortunate fun of tangeling with a Chevy 3500 truck that ran a red light by a 67 yo man doing 35-40 mph. Plowed right into the side of me about 5 inches behind the my door (drivers side). I walked out fine inside my old acura legend (aka honda accord sibling).

About quality and other bs....I used to own a old Dodge 100 truck and then a Chevy s-10. After being hit by a 15 yo girl who was busy chatting with friends, I bought a co-workers '87 Honda prelude. After putting decent stereos in each vehicle and expiriencing the simplicity and quality of plastic and screws in the prelude.....I couldn't go back to the s-10 with it's wretched panel gaps and stripped screws. I loved the truck, but I can't have something falling apart after being apart only twice.

As for my take on the domestic auto makers.....what I don't understand is why they make better cars for everyone else in the world but treat there home team like trash and give them trash to drive. Ford is especially bad with this.

I say, bring on the future and let happen whatever happens.

The stockholders, the employees and the government should go after the upper management for the past 20 years who have been pocketing all the money that should have been reinvested in the companies to keep them competitive.

That's what happens when you sleep with the same people who work for gas companies....They just need to dig out those no gas, environmentally friendly cars that they keep burrying! Hey listen, if Joe somebody can create a fully electric car and have a decent rating, I guess their high paid engineers can do it, i'd hope so...

Hey, if the Big Three have dug their grave, they can sleep in it.

Bet they're probably staring at all those electric cars they crushed and wondering what to do.

Might wanna reTh!nk your business model, Ford. rofl

While I do not like the idea of a bail out one way or the other taxpayers will pay. If the companies go down the workers will get unemployment or welfare, certainly there will be a re-training program. The towns will require (and get) more state and federal subsidies to maintain their economies. The SUV craze has had a piss poor effect on the market; guess what people the auto makers are after ONE thing MONEY. If people want more fuel efficient cars then buy them, believe me the US auto makers will make them. Unfortunately, the orders for road beasts far outstrip the orders for fuel misers. Also the idea that car manufactures are in bed with big oil is pure BS, WAKE UP people the biggest oil companies are (news flash) NOT US OWNED, but state owned by places like Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela. There are maybe 2 US companies in the top 10. Don't get me wrong, American oil companies, particularly refineries have a lot to answer for but convincing auto makers to make gas guzzlers is not one of them. Maybe after gas hits $4-5 per gallon, like it has been in Europe for a while, our mind set will change.

The problem does not only rest on the domestic cars - the Unions should share some blame. Twenty-some dollars an hour for manual labour? How about throwing the Unions out, their time has past. Drop and freeze the wages by a bit and save jobs.

Wow you guys are incredible. There's so much hate flying around I don't even know where to begin. Let's start from the top.

1. Quality
Okay so you got burned by a domestic automaker and don't want to buy from them again. That's fine. Good decision. But don't go around calling all their new vehicles crap without any evidence to back it up. If you read the most recent JD power studies, the domestics are pretty high on the list in terms of quality. In fact Cadillac and Lincoln typically rank in the top 5 just behind Lexus.

2. Fuel efficiency
True the domestics are a little behind in terms of fuel efficiency (about 5% on like vehicles), but a lot of that problem is legacy. GM is the largest provider of healtcare in the country. That greatly erodes any profit margin on smaller more fuel efficient cars. Still both Ford and GM are investing a lot in producting more fuel efficent cars (even at a loss). Ford makes the Escape and Mariner hybrid even though they're sold at a loss. Toyota just opened up a new Tundra plant and spends millions advertising them. They do that because Tundras makes money. Toyota doesn't care about fuel efficiency, they care about making a profit.

3. Electric Cars
Don't blame GM for killing their electric car when Toyota did the same thing. It's not GM's fault. How many people do you think would honestly play 30-40K for a compact car that can go 50-100 miles? Even the new Tesla that's received a lot of buzz has only 200 vehicles scheduled for production. The fact is people don't want electric cars. The automakers tried and failed.

4. War consipracy
Yeah... no...

If Ford, GM and Chrysler all go under, it will be a dark day for the US economy. Millions of people will go without healthcare. Ford and GM are both in the top 10 of corporate philanthropists. If you don't like a particular car voice your opinion, but don't just flame some decent companies in a business you know nothing about.

"@Remy LeBeau: Toyota owns and manufactures Scions."

I'm well aware. I was saying that if you're going to go with a Toyota company, at least choose Scion because they have something somewhat interesting to offer.

GM/Chrys/Ford always seem like they are playing catch-up to the Japs. They release "new" models that might have been a huge hit several years ago, but unfortunately the cars they release are just plain outdated before they even hit the market. The Jap brands always seem one step ahead and they are embracing fuel efficient vehicles while the American brands are bitching and moaning about it. GM/Chrys/Ford need to take a long hard look at the future and come out with something exciting - something that doesn't compete with Jap brands "today" only to be shown up when the Japs bring out their new models, but build something today that will compete with them tomorrow. The only way to get back out in front is to be a LEADER in design and quality.

"Do you think the U.S. government should help out the big three? Wouldn't this go against the principles of a free market?"
It would not be the first time the US has bailed out an entire industry. You may recall the billions spent to help out the legacy airlines after 9/11, despite the fact that Southwest still managed to post a profit during this time. I bring this instance up because it shows that the bigger companies were too inefficient to still make money. Likewise, Toyota and other Japanese car companies have found ways to be more efficient than the Big 3. They have production lines that can be changed out within minutes for different models and they waste alot less material waiting for cars to be sold. The American companies have had decades to retool their processes to compete against the Japanese car companies, but they continue to fall short.

What amazes me the most about the Big 3 is that of all car companies, I think they are the most ingenious. American car companies have invented most of the advancements in car technology. Even hybrid technology is a US car company invention, subsidized by the Clinton administration for the Big 3 to create and use. And then...they didnt. They walked away from it and watched as the hybrids Toyota and Honda made sold like hotcakes. They make great technology, but then they don't utilize what they create.

To be honest, I love Ford. I'm not ashamed to say it. Their '94 F-150 kept me alive in two wrecks that would have killed me in any other car. Why? Dual I-Beam. They don't use that any more, and I hate it, but such is life. And I am restoring a '66 Mustang that I love, though it is a death trap any way you put it. I think the American companies are starting to realize their errors with quality, as many American models consistently hit the top 10 of quality lists. But fuel efficiency is a different story. Perhaps they'll figure it out. But after Lutz said it "will cost $5000 more per vehicle" to meet the new EPA standards (did they already do away with those?), I lost all faith in GM. If Toyota can do it already for less than you can, you're a lost cause.

I just think the greed of the American Car Company CEO's have lead to their own downfall. Instead of investing profits back into the company in R&D and Quality Control, they just draw their multi million dollar salaries. No CEO Deserves ANY money over $100k, especially if their company is NOT making money. Sure they might work hard (maybe) but they can have their $50 million salary in 3-5 years AFTER they work hard and get these companies out of the hole.

Why are the japanese cars better? Cause their CEO's make like $200-300k and the rest of the money goes back to the company.

The government (or our taxes) should NEVER be used to bail these CEO Crooks out so that they can continue to draw their $30+ million salaries.

If you are worried about healthcare, then take the $ that would have been used, and spend it on healthcare.

It is time to stop these CEO's from scraping all the profits (and our tax dollars) and just let them go bankrupt. I'm sure the public (and workers) won't be too happy to know that while the company was not making money and they about to lose their jobs, the CEO's were still getting a nice Hefty salary, which bled the company dry, forcing bankruptcy.

Maybe the CEO's should give their money BACK to the company to bail it out of bankcrupcy, since it was THEIR decisions that led to the company's downfall. But I doubt they would be ethical enough to do something like that.

It's not gas mileage that's doing it, it's poor build quality and a history of worse build quality that keeps people from buying American.

Drop the unions and the big 3 can compete, if someone wants better pay they should have to work for it.

Wow, like Yogi said "Deja Vu all over again". Didn't we have these conversations 20 years ago?

NO! NO! NO! Automotive business is a BUSINESS! If they are not capable of running it, GET OUT. I already pay WAY too much for a car. Now you want my tax dollar to go and support someone for failing at business?! I think NOT!!!

I am disturbed but not surprised at the hate towards the US automakers. It comes from many factors, but the main one is because morons with big mouths like the one who said about the auto co making war in Iraq... tard...

It comes from a stigma that is hard to shake, and thats that Foreign cars are better quality than domestic brands. That may have been true in the past, but not anymore. I would go so far as to say some US brands are BETTER quality than japanese car makers. An example is that, based on pure number of problems, Ford is now on par with Toyota and in all equivalent brands. HOWEVER, if you actually look at the problems, the US brands are minor, such as loose trim, window switch breaking etc. Toyota has many more suspension breaks, engin problems. A while ago i saw for myslef, a guy in a new RAV4 drove around a corner and his entire exhaust system right from the engine flew out the side.

I for one also find Toyota and many other makers too boring. Take the camry, and even though they made the outside a little better, the interior is still as boring as ever. The only car i don't find boring in the main brands from japan is the Honda accord. But obviously style means nothing anymore with people buying elements and Muranos.

As for fuel efficiency, do you know how they do it? Its not the engine. It takes 10 billion dolars per manufacturer to increase engine effieciency by 1%. The US automakers were willing to take that money and spend it on clean coal, a much more effective use. But no, they have to do 1% better...
The jap cars are so thin, thats how its done. Have you ever seen the doors???? like 2 inchs thick... and.... erg, man, just flimsy. They have to make design changes such as Honda's unibody design to make it strong enough. One problem though, even though unibody in tests is strong and helps in a major accident, in a minor fender bender, the whole fram is bent, and therefore its a one time use safety feature, because after a fender bender, unibody will crumple in a major accident.

One other thing, my Dad works in the oakville plant here in ontario canada, wheer they make the edge and MKX. They are moving to the flex design where all vehicals fit on a few different platforms. This will save money but still, nothing compared to what they spend on employees. Ford is the best employer to work for by far. They pay for everything. My dad has 25years seniority and wasn't there for 10. He works when he wants, and makes like $30 an hour. This is actually his second job, the first one makes $45 an hour building internet towers with me. But he stays for the massive pension he will get when he retires. Ford however sees paying for all this as insurance that its employees will work hard for their pay. Its an investment to them. They won't ship all the plants to China as far as i can tell so the only thing that can change, other than your shitty attitudes is their strategy.

They need to stop being a 25% marketshare company thats losing money, and be an %18 marketshare company thats gaining money.

PS. I think i saw someone up there rank Canada down there with mexico as a 3rd world country..... yeah, no. As much as i dislike Canadian policy on everything, and its liberal garbage, its not 3rd world...

Hell NO

They have fail the american people. Where are the cars we need if the american automotive industry can't give them to us we will buy elsewhere. It is hide time we stop supporting big oil and if they are caught with there pants down I say all the better because we need better transportation. If this country does not start working fore the american people and continues finacing the wealthy then it is bussiness as usual. Does the goverment think we are stupid stupid stupid?

Ronald

I've worked on a lot of foreign cars and have to say that the quality parts on foreign cars is MUCH worse than domestic cars. These toyota cars use this reformulated aluminum/playdough crap metal that constanly cracks, strips and is so stinking cheap.

It's the same with all the rest of the crap stuff built in these foreign sweat shops. It's all throw away garbage. Nothing compares to to American quality of years past. I have 20 year old toasters, air conditioners and fridges that still work awesome. Try that with the crap import crap sold at Wallmart these days. You get a few years at the most. Same goes with the cars. If you want to buy a pick-up truck and keep if for at least 20 years you'd better buy American.

Because all the cheap-ass American citizens keep buying the cheap import garbage they consequently force American companies to compete with those prices...and the only way to compete is to lower quality.

Shame on any American who buys foreign. Traitors!

It is funny how cyclical this all seems to me but the auto makers seem to have no recollection of how things were. I personally do not believe the buying public at large buys cars based on JDPower reports or crash test reports. I think they want cars that best fill their desires at a certain point in time. Ford lived on the Explorer buyers in the 90's. Could anybody foresee that market drying up. I would hope so. Gas prices would go up as sure as a moviestar divorce. You need to cover your bases as a manufacturer. I realize the US companies have a different spending dynamic from their rivals, but not too far off. Foreign versions of these companies and their buyers are not as fickle as American buyers and it lets the makers focus more on certain aspects of car types rather than sweeping. I guess what I am saying is that the auto makers need to get to know their customers and stay ahead of the trends. (who would of thought SUV's would not have sold like hotcakes for another 20 years?)

I am another Australian, and I have an American car - a BMW X5 Turbodiesel which is beautifully made and has never been any trouble. It is also very fuel efficient ... so I guess thats why you can't buy it in America!

From where I stand (a long way away!) I can't believe what the US is apparently prepared to sacrifice in order to drive ugly inefficient old fashioned trucks around the streets. What ever floats your boat I suppose ... or sinks your company.

The reason the US automakers are in trouble has little to nothing to do with the quality of their cars and volume of their sales. It all stems from the generous union benefits packages awarded to the baby boomer generation of auto workers. The largest portion of GM's budget (I think it is around 25-30%) goes into paying healthcare benefits for people who don't even work for the company anymore. Take away that massive expense, and all of a sudden, GM is the most profitable automaker out there.

The automakers don't need a bail out; they need to sit and wait for a lot of people to die off. GM and Ford may be making losses now, but if they get in real trouble, where the companies are on the verge of collapse (which I seriously doubt will happen), then capital investors will save them, not the US government. Wall Street knows just as well, if not more so, than I do that it is just a waiting game with GM and Ford.

There is so much anger in America these days. I'm still proud to buy American and still refuse buy Japanese vehicles. Our American companies have learned some very hard lessons over the last 15 years. Today's GM cars are not the same as cars from even 5 years ago. They are much better products in technical design, reliability, efficiency and subjective areas of fit and finish. Give them a look and do a little research. Advice: Respect and acknowledge the past and mistakes that have been made, but do not ignore the present and continue to make false claims based off legacy data.

There is so much "perception" about how good Japanese cars are. They are reliable, high quality etc, etc. Everyone has some story from some time in their life that they reflect some positive experience. I have those same stories w/ American cars being the better purchase. Today, all of the major manufacturers produce like quality. In some cases, American cars are now exceeding on many fronts thanks to their foreign subsidiaries. (GM/Holden for instance)

The reality of it is, Japanese & German cars are putting out more TSB's, performing many more recalls and owners are reselling to secondary markets before they reach end of life (folks typically only own them 3-5 years).

Theses Japanese vehicles are selling better because they are cheaper to buy and lease not because they are actually competing w/ inferior products. It seems obvious why this is, labor and health care, freedom to import w/out penalty or tax and allowance to manufacture in our country, with lesser labor standards. (I'd actually like validation on the last point, I'm not fully informed on how Japanese companies treat their American workers).

To the question - No, the govenrment should not bail them out. Our companies still have more work to do and they need to fix their own problems. However, let’s help our auto companies maintain competitive advantage enjoyed by non-American companies by exercising similar import taxes as the Japanese, Germans and Chinese exercise against our companies. Lets determine why health care costs are so high and work to alleviate that problem for our fellow American worker. Perhaps the import taxes could fund that initiative, no?

I don't think American automanufacturer's need to be bailed out. I buy GM only and always will. The quality is the same. The gas mileage is the same.

You tout the efficiency of the import manufacturers. My Cobalt SS 2.4L gets just as good a mileage as an import with similiar horsepower. Of course it won't match a base Civic. A base Civic makes like 110 hp and even less torque. I like to have a little more get up and go than that.

Look at the import V6s. The Acura TL V6 6-speed that makes 285 hp gets 20/29 mpg. Chevy's LS2 V8 that makes 400 hp gets 19/29 in the Corvette, and 18/28 in the GTO. Not a big difference considering the 110 hp difference. And GMs 5.3L V8 in the Monte Carlo SS and a few other FWD vehicles gets 18/27 mpg with an automatic. And GMs V6s match the fuel economy as well (they often make less horsepower but they're also cheaper). So you've got V6s with good economy and V8s with more horsepower and the same economy as the competitions V6s.

And if you look at the new trucks from the import manufacturers, the domestic manufacturers fuel economy often beats that of the competition in the same size engine. The new Tundra is the only one even in real competition. But it also costs several thousand more than a comparably equipped Silverado. Motor Trend even gave the Chevy the win.

Then you factor in that maintenance on a domestic car is much much cheaper than on an import. I bought a new high torque 12:1 compression starter for my old 89 Camaro with a 355 V8 for $150. A remanufactured starter for my brothers 93 Honda Accord cost just as much. Parts for imports are far more expensive than those for domestics.

The only thing the American manufacturers are lagging behind on in my opinion is the hybrids. But I really couldn't care less. Personally I think its better to use more gas than to put giant battery packs that will only last 100,000 miles and then have to be thrown out (and are made of insanely toxic substances mind you). You ever seen pictures of the plants where those batteries are made? The land has been used in movies where the scene is supposed to be taking place on the moon or other desolate planet. So instead of CO2 you get ecological wastelands.

Oh and why do the American car companies keep building V8 cars and trucks? Because the American people buy them. Gas is at an average of $3.10 a gallon for regular. But Hummers and Escalades are still flying off the lots. Do you drive an SUV or truck you don't really need (you need one if you have stuff to tow, otherwise you don't)? If so, shut up.

Then again, there are the millions of American jobs hanging in the balance to consider.

The american car makers biggest problem is that in good times they took good care of there workers

Which is costing them huge amounts of money i guess they could dump them ? and let them go on welfare :(

In japan the goverment provides all health care and other costs for big companys giveing them a big cost advantage

Tommays

Government Subsidies will NOT HELP! They are about as short-sighted as the whole CASH-BACK rebate strategy that the Detroit automakers used a few years back.

I would rather the government spend Billions of our hard-earned tax dollars to sponsor and support research in Alternative Fuels and start building a Hydrogen Fueling network and system.

That would make a difference! Not bailing-out detroit for the 1000th time! This is capitalism, is it not? Let the market dynamics play out. Besides Detroit cars are made in Mexico and Canada... so I wonder what effect that would really have on our economy.

It's funny... cuz GM snubbed NISSAN and RENAULT last year when they proposed a partnership that would have benefited GM's cars and design immensely!

Shame!

- GM CEO takes home 10.2 million in 2006

- Ford CEO received $39.1 million in 2006

- Chrysler Group CEO Tom LaSorda $5.2 million

NO BAILOUT FOR DETROIT! NO! NO! NO! Enough is enough! We cannot line CEO pockets with our hard earned tax dollars!

UAW is a thorn in the American automaker's side, they can't make a dime on small cars because cost of labor is essentially the same across the board. They are paid far above national average to sit around and scratch their asses half their day. They also have the best retirement benefits in the country. I know guys who make 100k a year to sit around and wait for work orders to simply move things.

If you've been in a UAW controlled plant in southeast Michigan and interacted with these people on the floor, you'll understand.

After purchasing a brand NEW Saturn SC1 back in 2000 I will NEVER buy another GM vehicle. My reasoning for this is because the transmission went out on the vehicle at 63,000 miles. There should be no way something like that should happen. I called and spoke to Saturn (GM) and they told me there was nothing they could do because the car was out of warranty after 36,000 miles. I purchased a used Dodge truck and to this day (knock on wood) it has run great. A few minor fixes here and there but nothing major considering it now has over 124,000 miles on it.

But to get back to the point, let the US automakers bail their own selves out of the mess they have put themselves into.

When it comes to purchasing my next new vehicle I will base it on warranty, as in the best on available that comes standard with the vehicle. If the company itself is willing to take care of the car for 100,000 miles then my guess is that the car will last at least that long without any major hiccups.

So you're getting a mitsubishi????

It DOES have a 10 year warrenty... :roll: