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The domestic auto makers are paying for their collective lack of planning and innovation. I remember in the mid to late 1990's when they were giving out huge bonus checks to everyone from the CEO down to the guy who operated the torque wrench. Everyone that worked for the auto companies were strutting around throwing money away. The companies would have been far better served to invest in new technologies and equipment. I read that Honda has its plants set up that any Honda plant in the world can build a Honda Civic. None of the domestic auto makers can do something similar. The plants are old and inflexible, the labor force is much the same and management can't see past their own greed.
I remember about twenty years ago when I was in college and I managed to buy a new Honda CRX, one of the guys I worked with whose dad was employed by GM asked me why I bought the Honda and I told him it was the most reliable car I could get for the money. He responded that GM could build cars that lasted far longer than the current models but then people wouldn't have to buy cars as often. I was left dumbfounded by this line of thinking. Considering that other than a home a car will most likely be the most expensive thing I buy, I want the best I can get.
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