The Big Three only built small cars to get their Fleet average gas milage up. A government requirement. They did not put much time effort, research, or development into ther small fleet, as it really did not bring in much revanue. For small cars they did not get good mileage, and they had lots of problems.
The money was in Trucks and SUVs. That is where the Big Three spent their money on research and development of the money makers.
Now that gas has gone through the roof small cars with good mileage figures are in demand. The Big Three just does not have one of those. Hence Honda, Nission, Volkswagen, the ones that are known for their fuel economy and reliability. Something American small cars just does not have.
Now GM sort of had a good idea, for their Tracker series, they were built by Suzuki. The last ones were the Suzuki Grand Vitaria, with Chevy logos on it. The Pontiac Vibe was a Toyota Matrix with the Pontiac emblem. GM let Suzuki and Toyota do the research and development, and they got a good vehicle.
I was looking at the engine on my new Jeep Wrangler. My son came up and said, "Pretty good idea putting a Mitsubishi engine in a Jeep". I asked what he was talking about. He raised the hood on my Eclipse, and said, "Take a look". While the top accessories are different, underneath they are the same. Even tho one sits transverse, and the other sits longitudnaly. In other words the Eclipse sits east west, and the jeep sits north south. That's when he told me Chrysler and Mitsubishi share a plant and use the others platforms and engines. Surprise to me.
Now as for the mini vans, they are falling out of favor for the most part.
