Naturally, I went shopping...

Naturally, I went shopping when I was in the world"s consumer capital last week. But, by steering clear of US-made goods, I saved more money than usual. And I reckon I got better products than ever: Asian-made Gap jeans, a Japanese-built Yamaha guitar, Korean boots, Mexican beer. I flew home with a non-US airline, too.

Although I didn"t buy any Springsteen CDs, I did catch the sad sight of his guitarist, Steve Van Zandt, playing to 38 people at a hotel pool bar the Sunday before last. The wider public has cruelly decided that, like so many "classic American products", Van Zandt"s guitar work no longer deserves their cash.

My point is that every dog has its day. Consumer loyalty means nothing any more, particularly in America, where the customer is not only king but judge, jury, executioner and grave-digger, too. Legendary American brands Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge need to worry less about their interfering new (German) owner and be more concerned about the potentially lethal Asian threat. Still parked outside my humble office in the US is the boxy, previous-generation Jeep Cherokee I bought about six years ago. Would I part-exchange the car for its rounder, softer successor? Never. But I would replace it with a Honda Element, Toyota FJ, Kia Sorento or virtually any 4x4 from Nissan. These days, a new, "all-American" Jeep is a bit like a new Timberland boot - great name, but no longer the finest or best-value product available.

Ford reminds me of Gibson, the once-buoyant guitar firm now sinking in an ever-widening ocean of rival global manufacturers. Nothing much wrong with the product, but better-value rivals, mostly from North Asia, are causing customers to defect. Similarly, the blue oval is in danger of being drowned by an unforgiving Asian wave.

General Motors was once so big and strong that it couldn"t help being successful. But it"s currently pondering its latest annual loss of .6billion - or, to put that another way, nearly ,000million a month - and is deciding how many Stateside factories and workers it must dump, and whether it requires bankruptcy status. If GM is not going to emulate other American brands by being on top of the world one day and nearly wiped off the face of it the next, extreme emergency action is needed.

Not sure if it"s corporate America, US unions or the Asian manufacturing industry that"s to blame. But as long as some firms in the States have to pay production staff around an hour when in China the rate"s nearer 50 cents, it"s "game over" for the American factory worker and the once-legendary product he used to build.