Detroit's Big Three's Problem is not the Pay, it's the Cars!

Economic Scene (New York Times Permalink)
$73 an Hour: Adding It Up
By DAVID LEONHARDT Published: December 10, 2008
The gap between the pay of Big Three autoworkers and workers at foreign-owned plants is less than it seems.

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People want a reliable car that brings them from A to B, in a fuel- and cost efficient way, safe and comfortable under almost any circumstances. But the car has to be there and stay in one part, on a wintery morning and on a hot August night. It has to be a useful item, like a watch or a computer. If American cars are great and the best for the price to get, people all over the world will buy them, if not, they won't buy them, there's enough choice all over the world.
In fact Henry Ford's idea has not changed, the world has changed.
The 'green aspect' is going to have an impact as a conscious status symbol as well.