>Same statement was made about Japan in the 1980s, and look at them now.

What, look at the fact Japanese cars out-sell American ones three decades later (~12% vs ~19.6%)? American car makers were even trying to copy their methods in the 90's (NUMMI & Geo, Ford+Mazda, etc...).

Do they? Most of the cars with foreign branding are still manufactured in the US. And the big three improved quality thanks to the competition. They just focused on the more profitable segments (same play as Apple).

Japan, on the other hand, is a basket case, and China faces a similar demographic hurdle.