I think the problem is with management. These guys want to maximize profits NOW, and don't plan enough for the future - because they don't personally plan to be in the same place in a decade. They're not invested in the future. Remember when the Japanese came on strong in the 1970s? American auto companies didn't take them seriously enough. Who leads in hybrids and fuel efficiency now that we are again facing high gas prices? In Japan, management is in it for the long haul - they stay with the company, here it seems like they jump in, make big promises, and then get gone with a big golden parachute. It's not the workers or the unions, it's the (bad) decision makers and their short sighted thinking. Look at GM. WTF do they have so many divisions for? What a waste! Still trying to sell the same "good enough" cars with different badges. So they then have to offer profit eating incentives to sell them. Stupid GM and their massive pachyderm SUVS with gas at $3/gallon. Maybe when they were making yet another extended version of the Escalade with 27' rims they should have been designing a Prius fighter. But they won't spend money now to reap profit down the road. They squeeze the lemon today. It's bad transient management that's ruining the American auto industry, and there's no need for it. America once made the world's best cars. We still should.