There seems to be a great deal of confusion over what exactly is ailing the Big 3 U.S. automobile companies, apart from a recession, poor leadership, a lack of focus on vehicles that get excellent gas mileage (which should be the real job one), new ideas and a proper vision of the future. A Sacramento-area car dealer, Scott Lasher of Lasher Auto Group, did a succinct job of clarifying matters in his comments to the Sacramento Bee on November 30, 2008. Lasher said that the number of dealers selling U.S.-brand cars will have to shrink. Four of his five major dealerships sell foreign cars.
Domestic automakers "built a business plan on owning 75 percent of the market... and they now have 45 percent of the market. The reality is, there are too many dealers, the domestic side more than the imports."
