[petesergeant]

> The companies shifted production abroad because they didn't want to pay for US labor

Realistically it’s the consumers who didn’t want to pay for it

[intended]

Customers will always aim for the best quality/price combination that they can get though.

[steveBK123]

Also US cars were genuinely horrendous in the 80s-90s in terms of build quality & reliability vs same price or cheaper Japanese equivalents.

It's only rather recent that all the big name car makes from US/Europe/Japan/Korea are pretty good & reliable. There were huge differences 30-40 years ago.

[coredog64]

I think there's a finer point here: US consumers don't want to pay for local UAW labor. GM&Toyota did fine out of the NUMMI plant, and companies like Nissan and Mercedes are making cars in Alabama.

[pjc50]

Parallel to how the UK car industry local brands collapsed, but Nissan Sunderland has just kept going nicely.

[steveBK123]

The problem wasn't assembly alone, the designers carry much blame as well in that era.