Japan World's #1 Automaker: What's Ahead For Big 3?  Japanese
Flag Japanese Flag  The headline this morning fromAutomotive
News is hardly surprising, but it is another reminder of how the
U.S. Auto industry has changed dramatically in recent years.   I
can see the e-mails already from those of you who think I'm
writing this to bash the Big 3 and the struggles they have and
are facing--while cutting more than 80,000 blue collar jobs.
Sorry folks, I'm not bashing Detroit. I'm simply stating the
facts that should make Americans wake up and realize we are in a
global economy, where cost wise it's cheaper for companies
(including the Japanese at home) to build vehicles outside the
states.  While the Big 3 are closing plants here at home,
Japanese automakers are not only opening plants here (the most
recent being Toyota's Tundra plant in San Antonio) they are also
building and exporting more from their home country. In fact,
according to Automotive News, last year Japanese automakers
built more vehicles in their ho