The big 3 made their money. The foreign market capitalized on sloppiness. Before the foreign automakers broke into the north american market, the big three were making money on parts, not cars. Why do you think that a foreign vehicle lasts longer? The mentality was "sell a vehicle for cheap, we'll sell parts later at markup". The foreign makers saw that and said "we'll build a vehicle that'll cost more, but won't need as many repairs and parts". With todays world, we have no time to deal with shops, dealerships and vehicle downtime.
Why the big 3 didn't see that is mindblowing.
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