[Diesel_Dave]

Kodak, there is something to what you're saying about minimum wage laws, etc. However, most people don't realize that Honda, Subaru, Toyato, BMW, (so-called "foreign" automakers) have many, many manufacturing plants right here in the US. And many "US" automakers have many, many manufacturing plats in other countries. There really isn't a whole lot that distinguishes "foreign" and US automakers other than where the headquarters are.

What gets me is the notion that there's some evil conspirisy by the US automakers to squash good FE. I can't remeber the exactly how it goes, but there's an old saying that goes something like, "Don't mistake evil for incompotence."