[mseepman]

Again, because I'm in the industry (and deal with all manufacturers) I thought I would kick in my 2 cents. I don't want this to sound like I am preferential to any brand as my job would be affected negatively if anyone disappeared.

Many of our perceptions of quality are exactly that...perceptions. One of the things I'm involved in at all my stores is service and warranty rates and reviews. I have been doing this for a good number of years now and have realized that import warranty rates are low because they just refuse to do the work under warranty. It is always the customers fault and only after a lot of fighting do things get fixed under warranty. Sometimes I get pulled into these battles and I'm shocked at how obvious the warranty issue is that is being debated.

Vehicle quality in Canada and the US is rated by various parties, but the most respected of them is JD Powers who do an independent review of customers of every make. I see these numbers monthly and for the 2008 model year, Fords quality was rated significantly above that of Toyota...who fell the most in quality of any brand.

I think that most people are confused on the bailout. Yes the domestics have lost market share to the imports...but that doesn't mean they were run poorly or doing badly financially. The massive collapse of the banking system in the US is what has affected these auto makers. They were doing okay given their circumstances...until suddenly the banks were in trouble and wouldn't loan people money to buy cars any more. The domestics have also had to deal with the UAW while the imports have built factories in the "right to work" states where costs are cheaper and unions have little to no power. I guess it pays to be the late arrival to the party.

Lastly, what I don't think people realize is that the picture is bigger than the domestics. Toyota had a huge loss last quarter...something they haven't done in years. All three of the big imports are laying off thousands of people in Japan (I believe the number is 16,000). Do you think it will be long before those layoffs start in North America? All imports are projecting losses again this quarter. If the big 3 go down, so do the suppliers and though I hate to tell you this, Ford, GM and Chrysler share a lot of parts suppliers with Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

In the end, if the 3 US automakers go down, everyone will lose.