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Introduction:The US automobile industry, that had long been the symbol of the US’ industrial dominance
had traditionally centred on Detroit's Big Three (Big Three) automobile companies - 'Ford
Motor Co.' (Ford), 'General Motors' (GM) and 'Chrysler Corp.' (Chrysler).
All through the
1960s and 1970s, the Big Three had enjoyed unrivalled success in the US and had seldom
considered the fledgling foreign companies worthy of competition. But in toasting their own
success, they overlooked and underestimated their competitors, whomade rapid inroads into
the US market with a slew of products ranging from small cars to pick-up trucks
and from family sedans1 to luxury cars, which were better in quality and lower in price than
Detroit's offerings.
By the 1980s, the Big Three automakers were facing serious problems in
the form of declining sales, diminishing market share and looming financial crises, due to the
increasing dominance of foreign carmakers in the US, with cars fromcompanies like Toyota,
Honda and Nissan (Japan), Hyundai (Korea) and Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz
(Germany), capturing the loyalty of the US customers...
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