The roots of GM's fall from grace are numerous, and it would be incorrect to attribute the fall to any single factor. Like Rome's fall, there were many root causes, and it took so long that when the end came, life as people knew it simply continued. Far more traumatic and catastrophic was the instantaneous obliteration of the city of Pompeii.
At least part of the fall can be attributed to GM's being out of touch with its customers, which has been documented for many years, including in a wonderful 1984 book by David Halberstam, The Reckoning. Though the book is mostly a comparison of the No. 2 car companies in America and Japan (at the time, Ford and Nissan, respectively), there is ample discussion of GM as well.
