Are American Cars Getting Better Or Are Japanese Cars Getting Worse?

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There's some debate as to whether selling cars is a zero sum game, but there's generally a certain quantity of people looking for mid-sized cars, sports cars, compact cars, et cetera. With that as a given, relative rankings become important as people look to buy new cars. Lately, America has been doing better when compared to what seemed like a Japanese juggernaut. Just today J.D. Power & Assoc. announced the initial quality results and two American cars, the 2008 Chevy Malibu and Ford Fusion, were in the top three.

This follows Consumer Reports noting Ford improving and Toyota declining in reliability, and we'll have more news today about American companies catching up with the Japanese.

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So this leads to the obvious question: who is moving? Are American cars merely catching up with the Japanese? Are the Japanese getting worse? Are both getting better but American cars are getting better faster? Or is it just that our expectations for American cars are a little low? [Photo: StangBangers]