Was he standing in Michigan when he said it? I went to school in Michigan in the late 80’s. I drove right into campus in my Nissan Stanza. best car my family had ever had, and I bought it used from a friend. Our American cars had had all sorts of problems over the years. The British car had been one of the worst.
Having that Nissan was like a personal affront to Michiganders. They really had no idea why I would buy a Japanese car. I mean seriously clueless. What was more shocking was the ivory tower at the auto manufacturers, they have money, travel, they know other states are riddled with foreign cars driving the streets, and they just still didn’t get it.
Now, the American cars are much much better than they used to be. German cars have still never been as good as the ratings as Japanese cars, although I will say I never had a problem with my VW, but I have with my Porsche. Altjough, VW had that mpg scandal, remember that?