Well in all honesty, domestic vehicles did have a long track record of being lower quality. Heck, even the CEO's of the auto makers will tell you they were getting battered because of quality issues. But in the last decade or a bit less they have made great strides. So I wont call the American people a moron in that respect because they were smart enough to buy the products that had quality.
But that has changed in recent years but the idea persists and it will take time for the domestic auto makers overcome that stigma.
I'll also add, that there is not much domestic about domestic vehicles anymore. The nameplate may be domestic but many of the components are not. Pontiac Vibe, Chevy Colorado, Chrysler Crossfire, etc come to mind. The Isuzu that I own is the first import nameplate that I have ever bought since Ive been old enough to own a car and heck, even the friggin' import isnt a true import because it (Isuzu) is a collaborative effort between GM and Isuzu. The engine is Isuzu, the tranny isnt and there were Rodeo's that has the GM 2.8L V6 in them.
In todays global market there is very little that is 'truly' domestic or 'truly' an import.
