Bill is correct. And the U.S. automakers after the War had a 'you'll take what we build and like it' mentality there was really no competition. Especially from GM they got REAL conceited.
Henry Ford was all about competition when he was alive. He believed that a much better product would evolve, with competition.Henry Ford II invited Japanese automakers in to tour the Rouge, they took notes, pictures, and went back and copied what Ford had done.
Cars today are much better than they were even back as close as the '90's, all across the board, American and Japanese. I'm not sure really how much more they can do. I suppose developing the Tesla and pushing electric cars, but the Germans feel that hydrogen powered cars are the future. Stay tuned should be interesting!