The American Automotive Industry has had years to catch up and it is not like they did not know. Their market share has been steadly erroded by foreign companies that are giving the consumer what they want, better efficiency.
If I am not mistaken GM is now behind Toyota. We constantly hear American companies pushing new design in everything, but, and it is a larg BUT, fuel economy.
They have the ability and the technoligy

The real question is do they have the brains they claim they do for giving the consumer what the consumer has been asking for, for many, many years.
All the intelligence in the world won't help them compete in a free market if they don't get out of their glass and ivory towers and talk with consumers. Not just a few consumers number around 1,000 to 1,500, but millions of consumers. Haveing worked in manufacturing and seeing corporate brains at work, they are not all that bright. Particularly when they ignore their best resource, the working guys on the floor and waste $1. 8 million to hire 6 guys to tell them how to improve efficiency when their own employees have been telling them the same ideas for over 5 years already.
If you want to build an 3/4 ton full sized truck that can get 30+ mpg, it can be done. They have the ability, but do they have the will? That is the one thing that gripes me, this country's RD sections in industry gives away ideas because they don't see a payback in the near future, which is usually 2 to 4 years depending. Then sure as heck that same idea comes around to bite us in the butt from a foriegn competor and we then hear to old song and dance from industry that the foreign guys are not playing fair for whatevery exucse is close at hand, because they took and idea that was cast off as too expensive by us and no one would buy it, and looked at it and worked it and now have something that our industry can not touch because we are now several years behind.
CEO's do not seem to learn anything

from History.