As one auto executive said, "Bush has been a good president to work with."

Auto executives say they make what people want to buy.

He has friends in odd places for an auto executive.

It was the first gift he had ever received from an auto executive.

Auto executives say that in the next year or two the tax will drop to 6 percent, no matter what the size of the car.

Still, auto executives say that even 4 percent will be difficult to achieve.

Most of all, auto executives say they are simply building the vehicles that Americans want.

And auto executives say the long-term problem will not go away easily.

Now, however, the first expression out of a Japanese auto executive's mouth is likely to be "value for money."

But auto executives and economists say that figure does not tell the whole story.