CNN asks: are American cars really that bad?

In light of this week's high-profile restructuring announcements (and their attendant job-shedding) by both Ford and DaimlerChrysler, the folks at CNNMoney have attempted to answer a very basic question: "Are American cars really that bad?"

As one might expect, the network relies heavily on citations from J.D. Power's quality metrics, along with the predicted reliability ratings of Consumer Reports to come to a resounding "Eh, they really aren't all that horrible."

Having thusly determined that there exists a sizeable perception gap among consumers, CNN then attempts to pin down why this is. Their answer? The "Three 'R's" - and we don't mean reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Nope, Reputation, Recalls and Reviews.

CNN's write-up is a decidedly simple primer on the issue, and its conclusions probably won't trouble the well-read enthusiast, but it may give the average consumer something new to chew on.