Originally Posted by shakran

The whole problem with the american auto industry is that 1) they choose short term profits over long term income every time and 2) they see a trend, and then put all their eggs in that trend's basket. Big cars were cool in the 60's and early 70's, so rather than make a few small cars as well the Americans went crazy with the land barges. Then the oil crisis hit and the Americans were left out in the cold. But they didn't learn their lesson because in the 90's they all concentrated on making the biggest gas guzzlin' SUV they could, and they're paying for it now. Meanwhile the diversified Japanese cars are still selling fine because you can get tiny (Honda fit) all the way up to huge (toyota tacoma), and get better gas mileage while you're doing it.