Reply #1: They are losing due to arrogance.

[Mich Otter]

I live in the Detroit area, have worked for Chrysler since 1972 and have seen much of the reasons for the American auto industry decline first-hand over the past 35 years.
In the '60s and '70s the Big Three were so arrogant they produced a lot of absolutely shitty vehicles.
I used to be an inspector on the assembly line, and I saw many times management okayed work that should never have been okayed. Their come-back was always, "Let the dealers worry about it." The reality was, the dealers did knot worry about it, they simply told their complaining customers, "That is the way they are built these days by GM, Ford, or Chrysler".
One customer after another decided they would buy from some company other than the Big Three, and many vowed never to own a Big Three built vehicle again.
In the '60s and '70s, there was virtually no money spent on training the workers. When machinery needed repairs, it was only fixed well enough to keep running, not well enough to improve quality.
The primary focus by management was on the quarterly profit reports. Management's jobs and bonus checks depended on those profit reports being favorable quarter after quarter.
Foreign auto companies were more willing to focus on building quality and they not only got a foothold in the American market, they have become major players.
I feel bad that so many Americans are losing jobs and their standard of living due to the way things are going. I know the workers on the lines, almost to a man or woman, want to build the best product they can.
We, who work in the auto companies, can only build them as well as management wants, and insists, they be built.
The Big Three are slipping back into their old, bad habits of thinking they can build flashy vehicles, advertise the hell out of them, and keep the profit sheet in the black. The companies need to remember what got them into this trouble and get on track with building the best quality vehicles that the public wants and needs.
The same kind of "profits first' mentality has a lot to do with many of the problems in America today; from health care, pollution, jobs lost, jobs being sent overseas, and the need for endless wars. We all get to suffer the consequences of the "profits first" ideology that is pervasive in our economy. A few people get mega-wealthy while the rest take a beating in their standards of living.