Toyota, more than any other foreign company, contributed to the demise of the our auto industry. It’s therefore ironic that Toyota’s collapse might be responsible for the return of the American car.

If I were of a punning nature, I would call this “carma.”

Of course the major culprits are the American auto industry decision makers who saw the VW bug in the 60s, the tiny Toyotas and Nissans in the 70s and 80s suddenly invading our shores – and shrugged their shoulders. Toyota simply did what any other savvy business would do – saw a market and exploited it. /And, like any other business, they got ft, and cocky and lazy and are now paying the price.

But so are the American workers at the Fremont, CA Toyota-GM plant, soon to be closed. Toyota’s decision to stop making cars in Fremont in March will idle 4,700 workers at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. factory and send a job loss shockwave through more than a thousand California companies that supply parts to the only automotive plant on the West Coast.