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The Big 3 has plenty of ties in other parts of the world. GM partially owns(ed) SAAB, Subaru (to Toyota now), Daewoo (I think, or one of the other Korean brands), and a bunch of other companies. Ford partially owns Mazda, and has operations all over the world. Chrysler was part of Daimler of Germany.
I think their mistake was not having a continuous stream of small cars to build up customer loyalty. GM's Saturn got bigger and bigger. Chrysler's Neon was pretty popular for its first few years but then the line was not continued. Ford got rid of the Escort but introduced the highly popular Focus.
All their small cars suffer from inattention to details and quality. A similar Japanese car has way better build quality and is being continuously improved with better powertrain and creature comforts. A small car doesn't need to be luxurious, but it does need to be solid and well fitted. I think American small cars can't match Japanese small cars in this regard.
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"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
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