You are re-writing history. In the 90s GM/Ford/Chrysler consistently had the worst quality in the TGW surveys, and were scoring more than twice as many problem

You are re-writing history. In the 90s GM/Ford/Chrysler consistently had the worst quality in the TGW surveys, and were scoring more than twice as many problems as the Japanese manufacturers. By the the mid 2000s, Buick had the highest quality ranking of any brand on the planet. The Americans caught up to the Japanese in terms of quality, and the European manufacturers lagged because they never felt the pressure of the Japanese makers in the domestic markets. I was at Ford when the way to win an argument was to just say, "that is how the Japanese do it". If the Japanese had DC rundown tools, we got DC rundown tools. If the japanese tradesman rode bikes, we got bicycles. If the Japanese don't inspect incoming parts, we don't inspect incoming parts. Yes it was annoying, but it did work, as the results speak for themselves.