Why do people care so much about the country of origin of a car company?

For years, the quality of American cars, as we know, was below that of ones from other countries. Yet, fans of American cars were quick to insult Japanese cars, and they even still do in 2016. I remember, when Toyota was dealing with its acceleration recall, they thought that Toyota's customers would start buying American cars, but instead they bought Hondas from what I know.
What I don't get is why does this only apply to cars it seems? The quality of US airlines is below that of other countries yet you don't see Americans insulting the Asian airlines despite them being rated well, especially ones like All Nippon Airways. So, why do Americans care so much about the country of origin of their cars, but not of other things, such as their airlines?

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