At least the American brands have been useless and uncompetitive for decades. They were fading before the Great Recession as Japanese manufacturers were pushing

At least the American brands have been useless and uncompetitive for decades. They were fading before the Great Recession as Japanese manufacturers were pushing them out of many segments, then got a second lease on life with all the gov money and have again found themselves flailing. Volkswagen and Mercedes chose fraud over innovation when it came to environmental regulations. They aren't great companies suddenly facing a brand new opponent. They have been consistently dysfunctional. At a certain point, the companies need to prove they care about surviving long term.