I work for a major automotive supplier (4th or 5th largest, depending on the state of bankruptcies right now). We supply to most every automotive company out there, though by far most of our parts to to U.S. or European companies. We make a few parts for Asian companies - but not many. It is VEEERRRYYY difficult to sell to them.

Folks see a Toyota or Honda plant in the U.S. and think it is a "U.S.-made" vehicle. It is simply not the same. Almost every single part comes from an Asian plant. It is only assembled in the U.S. Yes, some parts for the big three come from offshore, but a lot of those are from factories owned by U.S. companies. Much of that money stays in the U.S.

Quality was a huge difference back in the 70's, but things are different now. Very different. People are fooling themselves if they think that is the reason not to by from the big three.

I used to work for GM 20 years ago. Even back then they would buy Hondas or Toyotas for comparative testing, and they would find that the quality of some models - especially their first year models - were so poor - in a relative sense - they'd stop testing them. 20 years has brought an amazing change in quality to U.S. cars AND trucks.

J.D. Powers' 2009 dependability ratings - the top two spots are Jaguar and Buick, Lexus at #3, Toyota at #4, and Mercury at #5.

In J.D. Power's 2009 dependability ratings the Chevy Malibu and Ford Fusion beat out the Toyota Camry, and Honda Accord. The Pontiac Grand Prix beat the Toyota Avalon. The Dodge Dakota and Ford Ranger beat out the Toyota Ridgeline and Toyota Tacoma. The Dodge Dakota beat the Toyota Highlander and was much better than the Honda Pilot. The fullsize Chevy Silverado 1500 beat the Toyota Tundra. You see a pattern here?? The only categories where the Asian vehicles have full quality advantage is the compact, subcompact cars, and minivans.

All orders are down. Its not a quality thing. Its just that folks in the U.S. are not buying new cars.

Chrysler orders have already started to ramp up toward pre-bankruptcy levels. They are coming back.

GM will come back too. No doubt.

Folks who bought Pontiacs will probably buy other models.

What does it mean when someone buys Saturn & Hummer from GM. Many (most?) of the models are on GM platforms (Hummer H2=Tahoe, Hummer H3=Trailblazer, Saturn Aura=Chevy Malibu). GM will still be selling them the platforms for a while at least.

Parts and dealers won't be an issue.

Please, do buy from the big three. I don't care which one. Most of that money stays in North America (mostly the U.S.). If you buy a European car, at least some of that money stays in North America. If you buy an Asian car, VERY little of that money stays in North America.

I'm not a protectionist, but I do believe in national pride and doing what is right for my country. I think it would be disastrous for the U.S. send all manufacturing off-shore, but it is happening. I want my kids and their kids to be able to find jobs and earn a living. That is not a political statement - just a personal view.