<snip>

> I have a friend who relatively recently came to her senses and
replaced her
> full-sized American pick-up with a Toyota Matrix.
>
> On the other hand, she no longer has her horse-trailer, either....
>

Did your friend consider the Pontiac Vibe? The cars are identical
(except for some trim), as they are produced in a jointly owned
GM/Toyota plant (NUMMI), in CA. I believe that on average the Vibe
costs between $500-$1000 less just because of the GM moniker.

What this points out to me is that while GM and others can make decent
cars that people do want, they lost the trust of the American people
from years of neglect up and down the value chain. It is evident that
people voted with their pocketbooks and walked away from the big three
when the choices were similar enough. The distinguished products from
the big three continued to sell until again there was product parity
(Minivans, Trucks, etc...). My .02