An interesting book about U.S. vs. Japanese car makers is "The
Reckoning" by David Halberstam. It compares Nissan and Ford but is
relevant to the others as well. One of the main themes is that U.S. car
makers are run mostly by bean counters looking at the short term bottom
line whereas Japanese companies are run by engineers and manufacturing
people who are truly 'car people' and more concerned with a quality
product. It was written in the mid 80's but is still applicable today.
An interesting read...