I’ve rented 2 cars in the last 2 weeks. First I had a ford focus, a small 4 door. It was roomy up front (I’m 6’1) and rode well. I got 37 mpg and found myself thinking that if I were in the market for this size vehicle the focus would certainly be at the top of my list.
Right now I have a pontiac g5, a 2 door but an equivilant to the focus based on enterprise rent a car’s vehicle groupings. The pontiac can generously be described as a piece of shit.
It drives awful, rides awful, has no room in front or back, feels like the knobs and buttons are made from the cheapest material possible, and gets only 27 mpg. I think the msrp on the pontiac is also higher then the focus.
I realize the automakers problems are more about pension and health care obligations then anything but I can’t help but think that if this is a fair representation of the two different company’s offerings then its pretty obvious why gm is dead and ford continues on.
Tech(st)Books 
One HUGE difference between the American auto companies is Ford decided 2-3 years ago to address some of their internal issues whether it be debt, pension issues, union issues, or the simple fact that they were producing POS cars. GM decided to continue business as is. Fast forward 3 years and Ford is clearly smoking GM. Don’t get me wrong. Ford is not quite neck and neck with Honda, Toyota etc but Ford is clearly in a better situation than GM. Another example of why a business should address internal issues up front instead of relying on the government or American people to bail them out.