Jim Jenks from Kitchener, Ontario, said the quality of the Big Three’s dealerships should be improved too.

“I bought North American cars for 30 years, and I tried them all — GM, Ford and Chrysler — and when something went wrong the dealership couldn’t wait to blame me, or point their fingers in a hundred different directions,” he said. “My last two cars — plus my wife’s most recent one — have been Toyota, Acura and Honda, and the service is prompt, pleasant and most importantly it’s done correctly the first time.”

A number of readers like Justin Cunningham of Washington, D.C., suggested the Big Three copy Japanese carmakers. “I think all Detroit has to do is look at what the Germans and Japanese have been building,” he said.

David Rogers of San Bernardino, Calif., said the Big Three should do what American imperialism has done best over the last century: “Flood the market until you dominate it, driving out competition with quality products, and then raise prices to maximize profits,” he said. “It sounds like the Japanese learned well from the Americans, just like the Chinese are doing to us now with manufactured durable goods,” Rogers said.

Greg of Ogden, Utah, said the Big Three should overhaul their business models.

“What would it take to get me driving an American-built car again? It would take completely different companies to the ones we have now,” he said. “No excuse about having to pay higher wages and medical and dental costs that other companies. The Big Three have to get back to basics, work harder, smarter and be honest. U.S. companies have operated on a very short-sighted business model that emphasizes management bonus payouts and return to shareholders for the past few decades and it is coming back to haunt them now. Just build your best car and damn the bean counters.”

Another solution for the Big Three’s problems is universal healthcare said L Kinser of Indianapolis, Ind. The federal government needs to provide health care for its citizens like other industrial nations do, he said, and to rein in pharmaceutical profits instead of making corporations pay for healthcare. William Dague of Kokomo, Ind., said onerous union contracts “containing provisions which are absolutely impossible to sustain” should be trashed.

A few readers like J.P. Stoecklin of Vancouver, British Columbia, said U.S. carmakers should focus on fuel efficiency and environmental issues. They should produce more small cars like the Fit, the Versa, or the Yaris, he said.

And John Pope of Edgewood, Wash., pointed out that U.S. automakers have a golden opportunity to meet the surging need for environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient vehicles.

“If I were any of the Big Three automakers I would rebrand myself with cutting-edge and bold steps toward this end, and why not?” he said. “They continue to lose ground to their foreign counterparts, so there is not much to lose and everything to gain. This is the way of the future and cars such as the Prius are too expensive and weak to fill what is currently still a small but growing niche. If they can take the lead there while still turning out popular new designs, they’ll have it made. That’s why the time is perfect for the Big Three to take an intelligent step and rebrand.”

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