Eric--While you make some good points, I think you overstated them and got off track making sweeping statements about Americans and their products. You are in FL, I have lived there, and yes most of the SUVs there are not 4WD because it is flat and there is no snow. However, in most of the country the majority of the SUVs are 4WD.
As RC stated, Jeep (and Land Rover) owned the SUV market for many years. The great engineering of a Land Rover Disco almost got me in several accidents because it wouldn't come to a complete stop on downhill icy roads due to the way the ABS was set up. I never had that problem with any other SUVs. If you don't believe there is talent at work in the US, come to the next SEMA show in Las Vegas. You will see hundreds of US and many foreign companies with very good technical products for the automotive market.
Another example is the new MINI. The aftermarket products are coming from one company in the UK, several in Germany and about half a dozen in the USA.
You are stating well known history about gas mileage. If we want big engine power, even in smaller cars, then we won't be getting good mileage, it has nothing to do with where the vehicle is built.
Its odd that you think the American cars are done at 50,000 miles. Those slow reving V-8 and V-6 engines that you call outdated have a reputation for lasting 100,000 miles easily without major attention. The throw-away brands were Renault, Subaru, and Yugo in the past; some are improved now. I think it would be better to say that quality is down across the board- check the posts on the BMW, Mercedes, MINI boards. Everyone is lamenting the lower quality of the newer cars. Americans build some fine cars, the Chrysler 300M, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Thunderbird, Ford Mustang, Mercury Marauder, Panoz Esperante and Shelby Series I; and don't forget a number of Japanese and German models are built or assembled in American factories.
