This is only peripherally related to real estate...
Back in the 1980s when Lee Iacocca was running Chrysler... after he secured bail-out funding for them, he had a series of ads for Chrysler products. The tag-line was simply, "If you can find a better car, buy it." Of copurse he wanted people to buy his product... but there is a lot of strength in that tag-line.
Today, we aren't looking at one car company that is having an issue, we are looking at a LOT. A few years ago, Nissan was in deep trouble financially. The Japanese government helped to get them back on track. Toyota had some problems that were fixed with a GIANT cash infusion from GM (yes, Virginia, Toyota is STILL partly owned by GM). Mitsubishi... Chrysler. Mazda... Ford. But, the issue isn't that they needed financial help, the issue is that in each case the company wasn't as fast on the turn as consumers were.
A few years ago EVERY car company was chasing what GM and Ford had almost exclusive control of... the big SUV market. I keep hearing people say that the big 3 weren't building what people wanted... they were too busy building SUVs. Guess what... That is what people wanted!
Nissan Armada, Toyota Sequoia, Lexus LX, Infiniti QX, Porchse Cayenne, Mercedes GL... Get the idea? Oddly, it is the small companies that weren't able to afford to go after the SUV market, like Mazda, Subaru, Kia, Hyundai. And Honda was having to buy Isuzu Troopers and Rodeos to rebadge as Hondas and Acuras... and they were getting killed in the market.
But gas SHOT up, and the economy crashed quickly, and the portfolios of the big 3 seemed out of balance. They WERE busy building SUVs with high margins, and couldn't flip off the switch fast enough...
But, looking deeper, you will see that ALL of the car manufacturers are off on sales compared to the last couple of years. The problem that the big 3 faces are huge lagacy costs, huge dealer networks and union rules that make it very difficult for them to re-purpose factories or close operations. Frankly, increased sales would only be a band-aid, and a bail-out would be worse. They need to go bankrupt.
But, they also need a shot from the American consumer. I'm NOT saying "Buy American." I think that is short-sighted, wrong and ultimately damages the companies AND consumers. I am also NOT in favor of increasing tariffs on foreign built or foreign nameplate cars. That is also damaging to consumers and won't help the American companies in the long run.
What I AM saying is simply this...
If you are in the market for a car, try out a few American cars.
Check the quality rankings. They are beating the Europeans, and hanging with the Japanese cars. They have products like the Malibu Hybrid... for less than the Camry Hybrid... and the Tahoe Hybrid... which gets V6 Camry mileage. The Pontiac G8GT has BMW 5-series performance for WAY less money. There isn't a cooler line-up that some of the rides over at Chrysler... the 300C, the Dodge Challenger and the Chrysler Town & Country (btw, look for the features of the T&C to be in all of the Japanese minivans in their next generation... that is where the inspiration comes from). The Jeep Wrangler is THE best 4wd in the world for anywhere close to the money. Ford's Focus is a World beater. The Mustang is killer cool. And don't forget the Hybrid Escape.
And they have some really cool products on the horizon... the Chevy Volt, Chysler T&C Hybrid and Dodge Storm.
If you can find a better car, buy it. But you owe it to yourself to make sure it really is a better car... not just perceived to be better.
