Back in the day, GM had this idea that they would build a car for each period of your family life cycle.  My father bought into that idea and he thought his son would too.  

That's why my decision to switch to the other side didn't go down very well.

Dad just didn't understand what my automobile needs were  - how practicality and the gas crisis had combined to make a foreign car the best choice.  And neither did GM.

My dad did what a lot of people do, they project what they think someone else needs instead of listening to truly understand what these needs are.  

That's where GM -and all the American carmakers at that time- went wrong too. GM didn't understand that their life-cycle model to car selling just wasn't going to work anymore.  It was the beginning of their decline and the beginning of the rise of their competitors from overseas who were quick to adapt with cars that met the appetite for practical transportation and gas savings.