A large part of my time growing up was spent inside cars.

American cars.

My dad has owned an AMC Eagle Wagon, a 1979 Chevy K1500 Blazer, and a ‘92 Ford F150.

My mom has driven an ‘83 Ford Escort Wagon, an ‘87 Plymouth Voyager, and 90-something Escort sedan.

My parents keep their cars longer than the average person — the Blazer was 14 years-old when my dad sold it. While these cars lacked much material or driving quality (these, of course, were the years of Detroit’s decline) there was no denying their reliability.

By the time I started driving, there was no way you were going to see me driving an American car. I’ve always preferred small, sporty cars, something Asian and European makers have traditionally done better. In the 15 years I’ve been driving, I’ve owned cars from Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan, Acura, and Volkswagen.

After an accident a few years ago, I was without a car. Recently divorced, I wasn’t in a position to buy a new car. Coincidentally, a friend of mine had a car for sale at the same time.

The only problem was that it was an American car.

It was a three year-old Ford Focus ZX3 with 36,000 miles. The three-door hatchback came with the most powerful motor of the Focus line and a 5-speed manual. It was pretty basic: manual windows and locks and no alarm – but I’ll let you in on something.

It was one of the best cars I’ve owned.

Something’s changed in Detroit.

The original Focus was developed for both American and European markets, which helps explain why it drove as well as my Acura Integra. The quality of the interior was better than all but the VW Jetta (VW’s have the best interiors in the industry, so it’s really not a fair comparison). It truly was a world car.

A few days ago, Mark LaNeve, GM’s Vice President, North American Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing (do you think he gets larger business cards to fit that title?) wrote “Changing the Perception of GM, One Customer at a Time”, explaining that, contrary to what the press may be saying about them, their recent product releases have put them above industry average in quality.

Yesterday, Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford, wrote “How You Can Use Social Media to Help the U.S. Auto Industry”. Scott lays out advances that Ford has made in its vehicles, its factory, and its business itself to become a more responsive (and more profitable) company.

They don’t need to explain anything to me. My Focus was a good first look into the changes the American manufacturers have made.

The next look came courtesy of Adam Denison, a member of GM’s social media PR team. In September of last year, I got to have lunch with him and discuss GM’s steps towards sustainability.

After that, he had me sit in the new Malibu. I used to sell cars, and I can tell you, the interior of the Malibu is better than that of an Accord or a Camry. The car is so much better than previous generations that Chevy couldn’t help but poke fun at themselves.

It’s not for me to say whether the government should offer assistance to the auto industry, or what the industry needs to do. What I want to say is, if you’re still thinking domestic cars are inferior to imports, ask yourself this:

Have you driven a Ford (or Chevy) lately?