MAJOR AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, from the new Consumer Reports car issue:

Our latest survey of subscribers’ experiences with their cars shows that vehicles from Detroit’s Big Three automakers are now slightly more reliable, on average, than those from European makers. They also tend to hold up better than the European makes as time passes. It’s the first time in decades that U.S. cars have done so well.

This seems like quite a big deal to me, and not just for the automotive industry. And judging from the chart it reflects improvements in American vehicles rather than a quality decline among European cars. There’s even a modest closing of the gap between American and Japanese cars, though the Japanese remain well ahead.