You are confused, actually what I said was we see virtually little difference in the reliability of the vehicles, on the market today, among the thousands we service every week.. Every manufacture today is building good stuff that will last to 200K or more if properly maintained. The only real difference we see is style and price. You are also confusing market share with total sales. You are forgetting the market has been growing annually from the fifties when GM had nearly 50% of the market. The market was at 19.4 million in 2004, more than twice as many as were sold just 25 years age. There are currently 120 models from which buyers can choose. GM and Ford sell around 50% or ALL the vehicles sold in the US and GM and Ford are selling more vehicles than at any time in their history. Do you believe the domestics are just going to sit and watch the competition? Chrysler sales were up 2% in 2004 because of their new cars. GM and Ford will go up as well now that they are working on their car lines. GM and Ford spent their money on new trucks over the past five years because that is where the market is going. The imports don't even come close to domestics in truck quality let alone price. Toyota has the number one selling car but GM sells more cars. GM, Ford and Chrysler own the truck market that is expanding while the car market is shrinking. The top five selling vehicles in the US are trucks led by the F150. The Dodge Ram outsells the Camry. The best selling large SUV is the Escalade, the best selling mid size SUV is the Explorer and the small SUV is the Escape. Toyota does indeed make good cars but they are overpriced compared to the competition and that will hurt. Just look at all the Toyota one can find on domestic lots. The buff mags continuously have rated the Focus over the Corolla and the Civic the past three years. One recently rate the Camry sixth among six of its peers because of the high price Trust me GM, Ford and Chrysler are far from dead, they ALL outsell Toyota or Honda as much as three to one.
mike hunt
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