There may be fewer people buying cars from Detroit's Big Three -- but they're enjoying them more.

According to a University of Michigan survey, people who purchased vehicles from the automakers are happier with their cars and trucks than a year ago, as domestic vehicles close the satisfaction gap with their imported competitors.

The improvements in satisfaction come from Detroit's most-disgruntled customers giving up on the domestic automakers, leaving a core of buyers who appreciate their recent improvements, said Professor Claes Fornell, director of the survey and the National Quality Research Center at U-M's Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

That trend may pave the way for Detroit's Big Three to steer their way back to profits by emphasizing repeat business with a smaller base of satisfied buyers, instead of trying to reclaim huge swaths of market share that ultimately were so unprofitable as to drive both Chrysler and General Motors into bankruptcy.

"Usually, the way to improve customer satisfaction isn't by getting rid of customers," Fornell said. "But a smaller, more stable customer base might be easier for the Detroit manufacturers to manage."

The quarterly American Customer Satisfaction Index for April-June, released today, also hints that the U.S. economy could be headed for an upturn, as satisfied customers continue to spend -- if they can afford it.

Customer satisfaction closely tracks consumer spending, growth in gross domestic product and stock prices, survey organizers say. And as more money for the federal stimulus package flows to households later this year, spending should pick up, at least in families where unemployment or fears of job loss aren't an issue.

"We have to deal with high unemployment to get consumer purchasing back to the levels that we've seen before," Fornell said.

The index, first published in 1996, is released quarterly, with different sectors surveyed each quarter. The second quarter survey covered durable and manufactured goods, including autos, computers, consumer electronics and major appliances. The index is produced by the U-M business school with the American Society for Quality and CFI Group.

This year's increase in satisfaction with U.S. automakers reversed last year's results, which showed Detroit automakers slipping in comparison to their Japanese and German rivals.

Ford Motor Co. led the survey, with a 6 percent increase that put the Lincoln-Mercury brand in the top five.

General Motors Co. was close behind, with its Cadillac division improving 4.7 percent to match the top 89-point score of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand, and Buick climbed to just 1 point behind, improving by 3.5 percent.

GM would have bested Ford this year, Fornell noted, without the low-scoring Pontiac and Saturn brands; the post-bankruptcy GM plans to sell Saturn and terminate the Pontiac line.

Detroit's other Chapter 11 survivor, Chrysler, lagged Ford and GM, with all three of its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands scoring average or below in the survey. Despite a 3.9 percent improvement, Jeep was the second-lowest rated brand on the list, but still better than last year, when Jeep finished dead last.

At 79 points, it barely beat Nissan -- the only Japanese brand to decline -- by one point, after Nissan's 4.9 percent drop.

Ford Americas President Mark Fields discounted the notion that Ford is selling to a smaller base of "true believers," but agreed that the survey "shows we're working on the right things for customers."

GM spokesman John M. McDonald said the survey, "indicates what we've been saying for quite some time: that GM and Detroit manufacturers in general have been making some pretty significant increases in all the things that contribute to customer satisfaction."

A Chrysler Group LLC representative said the company hadn't seen the survey and couldn't comment.

The increase in satisfaction with autos was the only sector of durable goods in the survey where customers were happier in the long-run. While satisfaction with autos increased 6.3 percent from the first survey in 1996, customers said they felt no better about televisions and other electronics -- and worse about major appliances and personal computers.

For his part, Fornell said he'd prefer to see cars besting personal computers any day.

"Any car is a pretty amazing product," the survey director said. "If cars were of the PC quality, our roads would look like hell. They'd crash -- all by themselves."