[darkpuppet]

it would be funnier if it were GM... Ford hasn't lost as much money as they have recently, and are the closest to being on track for a recovery in the near future.

Something GM isn't even close to.

I'm always a bit puzzled about people's rush to point out how great japanese companies are, but they are in fact not much different than american companies.

The difference is that they are growing into a market, while the american companies failed to accomodate a shrinking share of a market.

For as efficient as Japanese management seems to be, they recently recovered from their own financial crisis, and Japanese hubris is their pride, and it's bitten more than one japanese company in the ass recently.

If you inspire western manufacturing you'll get inspired results.