"I doubt many of the slacker, pot smoking wanna be who dictate their lives based on video games and MTV would know who the fake band Spinal Tap is"

Um, Stubby, that's exactly who would know who that is ... Dumb/funny movies like Spinal Tap are passed down from generation to generation of "slacker, pot-smoking wannabes." Trust me.

Awesome idea. I'd really like to see this applied to more passenger cars. Not that SUVs/CUVs don't need them, but they certainly have more space for such things. Can I get one on my 9-3?? Please? Come on, it's practically an Opel anyway!

If DCX would just listen to the rabid fandom of current/ex-Cherokee owners, they'd be in much better shape ... everyone I've even met who's owned one swears by them. I've never been lucky enough to drive one ...

UA, you're hysterical. rotfl, and other such acronyms ...

Oh, and actually, I drive a GM (okay, a Saab ... but that kind of serves my point, doesn't it?)

On to a more intelligent conversation:

Ryan's got a great point in comment #26. All else being equal, purchasing a car oftentimes comes down to image, and some people don't want to be associated--via their car--to Middle America, which is arguably what the big 2.5 represent. There is certainly a "heartland pride" quality to owning an American car--but if you're the type of person who doesn't agree with current American politics, or you have no connection to the middle of the country (say, you're a professor at Berkley), or you're just a Europhile, American autos and what they represent just might not appeal to you. It's the same way that the image inherent in owning a Volvo, or a Jetta, or a Camry might not appeal to the "buy American" set.

Every car or brand has some stereotypical mage associated with it (especially us car guys/girls), whether it's accurate or not--Volvos are for liberal, bearded architects ... Camaros are for immature white trash ... Subarus are for lesbians (I actually read that on this site as a comment) ... Jettas are for Yuppies in their larval form, etc. All of those could easily be turned around, depending on your perspective. But I would argue that it's the image and perspective that adds up to a good percentage of car-buying decisions.

But what do I know, I'm from "Jap-Land."

Wow, some of you missed my point entirely. I was slamming "k" for making an out-of-date reference to the Japanese, and assuming there's a similarly outdated level of nationalistic vitriol behind it. Nowhere did I say that GMs were all foreign, or that Hondas/Toyota were truly American. For all the grammar policing that goes on here, some of you folks need to learn to comprehend, too.

RE: "Aren't the Nippons wonderful!"

Um, k, is this 1943? I'll bet you also think that Hondas "run on rice," or something. Go ahead and stay stuck in the past while you drag your foreign-made GM to the shop one more time, while a smart person drives their made-in-america Toyota or Honda. Automotive nationalism is obsolete, genius.

#3: Ferarri has had a "brand-diluting" entry-level car since 1967 ... they seem to be doing just fine.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=116297

Not the best nationwide, I'm sure, but if you're in the area, River Road from Morrisville, PA, through New Hope, and on until you reach near Easton, PA. Gorgeous views of the Delaware River, good little S-turns, and a serious series of side roads to venture off into. There are a few towns where you'd be a complete a-hole not to slow down to the recommended 20 mph, but more the most part, you can keep it to a nice 50 and still have some fun. At its best by far in late October. Just don't get stuck behind a slowpoke.

#4: Stop ripping off e. e. cummings.

Hey #5, he is using it as a noun. Hm.

Still, bad choice of words--"stranglehold" makes much more sense. I don't you can "have a juggernaut" on something ... Though the oil industry can certainly BE a juggernaut, in that it is "An overwhelming, advancing force that crushes or seems to crush everything in its path". (http://www.answers.com/juggernaut&r=67).