I'm already feeling some of the fallout of GM's financial problems. I engaged GM-EMD (ElectroMotive Division) to provide a locomotive and specialized software. Since the start of the project, GM-EMD has been sold off to an investment firm. The new owners decided not to honor some of the existing contractual obligations to my contract AND many of their staff have been laid off.
I'm annoyed at the impact on my project. I've already worked out a satisfactory alternative that should keep EMD happily in the fold and still avoid trashing the project. Sometimes the best laid plans are overcome by events.
I tried to "Buy American" all my years behind the wheel, but I kept getting burned time and time again. Fragile bodies. Dropped transmissions. Endless leaks. Lower-than-advertised gas mileage. I've bought my last Big Three car.
I don't know what it is that the Japanese and the European designers know that American designers don't, but the Yanks sure seem determined not to learn.