What’s Wrong with GM?

From the Boston Globe:

So what’s wrong with GM? The cars. GM is famous for being run by bean counters and ad men. Toyota is run by engineers.

I take no joy in GM’s fall or Toyota’s rise. America, after all, is capable of engineering sublime consumer products such as the iPod and such complex manufacturing achievements as the Boeing 777. I was the satisfied owner of two Ford Tauruses, proof that American engineers and auto workers can make economic, high-quality cars.

I never subscribed to former GM president “Engine Charlie” Wilson’s oft-misquoted assertion that what’s good for the country is good for GM . But what’s bad about GM is tragically bad for America, its workers, their communities, and for American leadership in manufacturing.