The American car industry has been greatly affected by the economy. There is no denying that Detroit has essentially been “reset.” However, government bailouts aside, the question remains, what does the car industry need to do in order to survive?

Granted, the government bailouts received much criticism from many people, some of them may understand the economy on which Detroit was built and others may not. What needs to be noted is that this meltdown was years in the making. Ever since the 1970s Detroit has focused on pushing big cars. Even during the 1980s when carmakers like Toyota and Honda were dominating the American market because of high fuel prices, Ford, Chrysler and GM continued to push the “boats” that may look great, but couldn’t ever compete with foreign fuel capacity.

Americans though, love their big cars. With the 1990s came the explosion of the SUV and suddenly every suburban soccer mom needed an urban assault vehicle in order to get Jennie to ballet practice. The cars, trucks and SUVs got bigger and bigger, and suddenly, Americans were broke.

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