Business: Detroit Hits a Roadblock

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But the industry is counterattacking. All three major companies are bringing out new smaller cars beginning this fall. Chrysler has its K cars, which are similar in size to GM's compact X cars. Ford will bring out its new Escort and Mercury Lynx. GM will continue downsizing its fleet with the introduction of its J car subcompacts.*

In addition, the industry is trying to shore up the quality and reputation of its products. Some critics argue that Detroit's myriad models and options have always made quality control more difficult for U.S. manufacturers, while foreign automakers have stuck more closely to their basic products.

Industry executives now say they should stop comparing quality among themselves and look overseas. Ford has been sending delegations of engineers to the Far East to find out what Japan is doing right. Says Caldwell: "We've found some very interesting things, and we're not at all too proud to use them."

The auto sales slide is likely to continue for months to come. The new front-wheel-drive small cars will not all be introduced until April 1981. The task the industry faces will be the most difficult since Henry Ford rolled out the first Model T. Detroit, the city that put the world on wheels, must once again prove to its American customers that it knows how to build reliable, efficient and economical automobiles.