Contrary to conventional wisdom, GM's woes are not due to their ability to compete on a technical level, nor to their making big trucks and SUVs while Toyota put out hybrids. Firstly, according to objective evaluations of reliability, GM's cars are just as reliable as those made by Ford or Toyota (who recalled more vehicles in 2007 than they sold in 2007) or Honda (who put a transmission into production that broke aft 15,000 miles). The difference in reliability between auto manufacturers is small these days. Secondly, gains in market share in the US by foreign auto manufacturers have been made mostly in trucks and SUVs.

GM has produced many technical innovations ahead of the competition in recent years - magnetorheological fluid for electronic modification of shock absorber firmness, active stability control, and electric vehicles (EV1 and the Volt - which is NOT a plug-in hybrid).

GM's problems have been the hangover from the drop in quality in the mid-1970s to mid-1980s and their developmentally challenged marketing. Until very recently, every GM ad I saw - except for Cadillac - was about company- or division-wide sales and promotions. No mention of model-specific features, mileage, power, high quality ratings, etc. I never saw a single ad on TV for the GTO or the G8 or the Impala or the Sky.

Two key mistakes they have made include killing the EV1 which was decades ahead of the competition and abdicating the rear-wheel-drive sedan market for the under-65-crowd to the Europeans. At least most of the EV1 capabilities are coming back in the Volt, they've started bringing RWD sport sedans into the US from their Aussie subsidiary - Holden - and working to get the Cadillacs like the CTS-V noticed, and finally talking about their product in their ads.