>>Personally, I think it's Japan, China and a few others who are making it more difficult for American car makers to compete.
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>In that you are correct. Many countries (Japan most of all) are protectionist in their car industry. It is much easier to sell a Japanese car in the USA (trade-barriers I mean) than it is to sell an American car in Japan. I think Japan should open their market to foreign competition just as the US does. IOW both countries should impose the same import duties and barriers (or lack thereof) for the same items. It is called reciprocity. FWIW I drive a Nissan as I do like Japanese design an quality. Let the Japanese (and Chinese, European, etc.) public decide the same way.
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No doubt about the import barriers, but it's impossible to ignore the fact that Japan (and other countries) simply build better cars than Detroit does. The independent surveys all bear this out. I heard recently that the most recent Motor Trend list's top 10 models were all foreign. In fact they may all have been Japanese.