[oldE]

Sherwood has a good point. By playing the 'catch up game', trying to make cars that supposedly match Honda and Toyota in quality, GM & Ford have doomed themselves to following, and losing.
Yes, the quality has to be there. Thats a given, not a selling point that will make the consumer come to your showrooms in droves. One of the problems with GM's styling seems to be the desire for a 'family face' on Chev products. This leads to broad bands of brightwork through the grills of almost anything with the bow tie on it. Then you stop and think, aside from their truck, minivan and Monte Carlo/Impala and Corvette chassis, everything else came either from Opel or the pacific rim. Then they spend millions putting a domestic face on it. They should be spending that money improving dash materials, fit & finish and reliability of systems.
Who cares if their 'Chevy' lools like all the other 'Chevys' if they have to replace CV joints every two years, or the interior buzzes like a rattlesnake with the DTs after a year?
The North American 'response to the Asian invasion' has been going on for more than three decades and, based upon market share, they have failed miserably. If this was a military campaign, they would have sued for peace. In fact Chrysler Corporation has already been taken prisoner.
In the meantime, the 'domestic' manufacturers point their fingers at the unions for making them uncompetitive, when I suspect, these are the same unions which deal with the Asian namebrand plants in various states and Saturn, despite the union holiday, proved to be a dissappointment for the billions poured into it, (the cars were ugly, noisy and cheap).
Sorry fellows, the blame rests at the top. Mr Lutz, I wish you the best in your attempt to right the wrongs within the world's largest auto maker. Just remember when you are reviewing your executives: It is impossible to do anything productive when you are using both hands to cover your a$$.
Les