Motorists are pulling for Big 3, but will they be willing to buy?

This isn't an unreasonable goal, he added.

"Apple is an American company, not a Japanese company. I don't see why we couldn't have an Apple of the automobile industry."

One of the few drivers I came across who was already driving American was Tony Hosek, 28, who owned a sporty Chrysler Crossfire.

"This is a great car," he said. "It's sad that more people don't think this. People just don't have confidence in American cars."

I'm with Hosek. I traded in a very used Toyota RAV4 a couple of years ago for a less-used Chrysler PT Cruiser. I feel like I got a lot of car for my money.

Obama wants to save Chrysler by pushing the company into a shotgun marriage with Italy's Fiat. Meanwhile, GM's new chief executive, Fritz Henderson, said Tuesday that a bankruptcy filing was "more probable" after Obama gave the company 60 days to come up with a more aggressive survival plan.

One decision GM still has to make is whether it will be selling or folding its eco-unfriendly Hummer brand.

"I'll be a sad guy if they kill the Hummer," said Shawn Boroomand, 35, as he pumped (and pumped) gas into the 23-gallon tank of his big, black Hummer H3. "I'll be in mourning."

Boroomand is an unrepentant lover of SUVs, and he adores his Hummer. "This is L.A.," he said. "You are what you drive."

But what if gas tops $4 a gallon? Surely he'd want to consider a hybrid.

"Yeah," Boroomand agreed. "There's a nice Cadillac Escalade hybrid."

The more-than-$60,000 Escalade hybrid gets about 20 miles per gallon, which is better than the 12 mpg of its nonhybrid cousin but nowhere close to the 50-mpg Prius.

Look at it this way, though: That's at least one sale Detroit can count on.

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Bye-bye card fee

Of the various credit-card industry practices I've written about in recent weeks, none has drawn more fire from readers than JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $10 monthly fee for cardholders who have carried large balances for more than two years.

Now even Chase seems to realize what an unfair move that was. As of today, the company will no longer levy the fee and will start refunding all such charges made since November.

Stephanie Jacobson, a Chase spokeswoman, told me the decision to end the fee was made "based on customer feedback."

But New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement saying he had compelled Chase to stop charging the "illegal" fee and to refund $4.4 million to more than 184,000 cardholders.

"My office will not sit back and allow banks to promise one thing in solicitations and agreements with consumers, and then when times get tough, change the deal, leaving consumers holding the bag," Cuomo said.

Jacobson said the fee had been imposed to push cardholders into paying down their balances, not to gouge them.

"Customer satisfaction is important to us," she said.

Of course it is.

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David Lazarus' column runs Wednesdays and Sundays.

Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

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