When the oil embargo hit after the Yom Kippur War and gas prices started going up, suddenly fuel mileage was the only thing that mattered, and foreign cars became the greater consumer choice because those companies made smaller cars and were better able to adapt to the changing market.

The “big three” wanted all this help from Washington and claimed that they were unable to change so much so quickly. AMC died, and Chrysler would have also had it not been for Lee Iacocca’s leadership and powers of persuasion on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, even though the “big three” have survived these past 28 years, names like Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, and Volkswagen have steadily increased market share, Honda grew out of lawn mowers and motorcycles and are as big as the others now, and a bunch of Korean brands have joined the party.

The “big three” have lost their dominance—two nameplates, Oldsmobile and Plymouth, have been discontinued—and are losing their competitive edge. Why? Just as you stated: they don’t make cars that people want to buy. All those other companies seem to have figured it out.

What happened 35 years ago was a warning shot across our bow. If we didn’t learn from history we are condemned to repeat it. Capitalism can be brutally cruel sometimes. Congress cannot be always relied on to come to the rescue. The lesson right now for America’s auto industry is: adapt or die.