Daniel Howes: Detroit's bad rap deserves rebuild

[1931Chevy]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...52/1148/AUTO01
A few months back, ol' Hoot McInerney used a radio interview to offer his take on what has long been ailing the Detroit that made him a legendary car dealer.

The American people, he said, forgave the Japanese for World War II and they forgave the Germans. But they haven't forgiven Detroit for making some bad cars and trucks. And, I would add, trying to fob them off on a gullible public that wasn't so gullible.

Provocative? Yes. Accurate? More than folks in this town would like to admit. That gulf of forgiveness, born of mostly rational economic decisions grounded in fact, reputation and a squishy thing called perception, is close to giving foreign-owned automakers a majority position in the U.S. market.

But it doesn't have to, as a J.D. Power study commissioned by The Detroit News suggests. Four of five respondents polled for The News said they would consider buying brands produced by GM, Ford and Chrysler, but only 49 percent said they were "most likely" to.