[quote=Rt.66]The Japanese Gov. funded a large part of Toyota’s Prius development.
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And good for them.

I believe you are trying to portray how Toyota (and presumably Korean/European car companies) has unfair advantage due to subsidies from the Japanese govt. Toyota/Japanese govt had the wisdom to think long term. I don’t know if you can use that (govt ‘subsidizing’ Toyota) to place blame on Japan/Korea/Europe for the troubles the Big 2 are experiencing now.

Weren’t GM/Ford criticized for focusing just on large cars because they were more profitable? I don’t think there was any ban placed on the Big 2 from making small/efficient cars.

Remember GM’s EV1? Celebrities actually protested on the street for FREE to keep the EV1 on the road but GM didn’t listen. Is that the fault of Japan/Korea/Europe car companies?

Japanese govt spends public funding in a sensible way (probably a drop in the bucket) to help develop a car that’s pretty much revolutionary. Meanwhile, because the management at Big 2 didn’t think long term, US govt spends boat load of $ (in panic) just to keep Big 2 afloat. That’s not the fault of anyone but the heads of Big 2.

All we can and should do is demand better products from the Big 2. No amount of ‘Buy America’ slogan will really make a big difference, imho. It’s great that the Big 2 are making improvements in the quality. Hopefully it will get better in time.