Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?

7263 messages, Last post on May 27, 2009 at 4:31 AM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying

With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?

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#6444 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [fintail] by lemko Oct 23, 2008 (6:19 am)
Replying to: fintail (Oct 22, 2008 5:34 pm) That's the way I feel. If I can't get an American made product, I'll buy one that is at least made in a respectable first-world country.
#6445 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [lemko] by andre1969 Oct 23, 2008 (7:17 am)
Replying to: lemko (Oct 23, 2008 6:16 am) Philadelphia was once home to the large appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer Philco. Now the only things manufactured in the neighborhood where Philco was once located is crack rocks and blunts. And I'm sure once the Japanese, Koreans, or whomever figures out how to make those commodities cheaper, while still maintaining quality, manufacture of those will be moved overseas as well!
#6446 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [myershift] by hudsonthedog Oct 23, 2008 (7:19 am)
Replying to: myershift (Oct 22, 2008 1:07 pm) And that's the rationale that is terrible flawed with the auto buying public in the United States. Even if domestic automakers assemble cars and pay workers in say, Canada or Mexico, the profits ultimately go back to the home country's companies. Those profits are what help develop new models, more factories and workers in the U.S. The kind of thinking demonstrated here is one reason why U.S. automakers are flailing so badly. Just because a Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW are put together in the U.S., this does NOT make them an American car and the profits made from those cars do ultimately go back to Japan or Germany; depending on the brand. I don't see how your thinking is any less flawed. Labor and parts (and their associated labor costs) are most of the cost of building a vehicle, and when a vehicle has 60-80% domestic content, that means that most of the money stays here...just as it is with Accords and Camrys and many other "foreign brand" vehicles built in the US. And then there's the "profits" that "are what help develop new models, more factories and workers in the U.S." All of the major foreign manufacturers have engineering and design and R&D facilities in the US...and all of them work on products for the US (as well as for other countries), employing Americans to do that work. And where does the money come from (and more importantly where does it go) to build those NEW plants they keep building? What about all of those people foreign manufacturers employ in such foreign countries as Michigan and California, and Arizona and Indiana and Texas...where their money recirculates throughout the US economy? Yes, some profits leave the US...but so do monies generated by GM and Ford.
#6447 of 7263 Re: american car companies' lousy performance [sidious6688] by cooterbfd Oct 23, 2008 (1:42 pm)
Replying to: sidious6688 (Oct 22, 2008 4:52 pm) "All things being equal I'd rather buy American, but at this point an american car manufactuer would have to prove a superior product, not just be on par with the imports." Then I guess it's NOT "all things being equal" now is it, if your going to demand "better" instead of "equal". Replies to this message: sidious6688 (Oct 23, 2008 4:20 pm) lemko (Oct 24, 2008 5:51 am) fezo (Oct 24, 2008 10:54 am) and 3 more... sidious6688 (Oct 28, 2008 2:05 am)
#6448 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [tlong] by captain2 Oct 23, 2008 (2:06 pm)
Replying to: tlong (Oct 22, 2008 8:38 pm) and few really understand the trickle down effect of that worker's wages in that Honda factory who then pays taxes to pay the scholteachers, who then use their wages to pay the police officers etc etc. Ot that same worker using his disposable wage at Walmart who pays..... and on and on and on Agree that you do more to help this country and your fellow Americans by spending your money on the Accord especially if the other choice is the Fusion. It is the 'American' manufacturers that are largely abandoning this country while those' foreign' ones put money into it. Toyota can spend a cool billion building a truck plant in Texas, wonder how much Ford is spending down in Mexico so they can build their trucks, or even worse, how much of that money they really don't have are they spending buying out labor contracts putting even more Americans out of work. Replies to this message: cooterbfd (Oct 23, 2008 2:26 pm) tlong (Oct 23, 2008 4:44 pm) circlew (Oct 24, 2008 10:07 am) captain2 (Oct 24, 2008 5:55 am) cooterbfd (Oct 24, 2008 1:02 pm) and 8 more... imidazol97 (Oct 23, 2008 4:52 pm) fezo (Oct 23, 2008 5:36 pm) tlong (Oct 23, 2008 9:28 pm) circlew (Oct 24, 2008 10:09 am) imidazol97 (Oct 24, 2008 3:04 am) lemko (Oct 24, 2008 5:56 am) and 1 more...
#6449 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [captain2] by cooterbfd Oct 23, 2008 (2:26 pm)
Replying to: captain2 (Oct 23, 2008 2:06 pm) Amazing how people love to bash the Big 3, who are downsizing to the equivalent of their market share, yet still employ SEVERAL TIMES more people in this country than than the foreign companies, even though market share is about 50/50. I also think of the retired auto workers who, with their pensions and health care costs minimal, can "trickle down" far more than someone with just Social Security and a 401k, but have to pay for all their healthcare after medicare. But, that must not count. Replies to this message: tlong (Oct 23, 2008 4:44 pm) circlew (Oct 24, 2008 10:07 am) captain2 (Oct 24, 2008 5:55 am) cooterbfd (Oct 24, 2008 1:02 pm) captain2 (Oct 27, 2008 1:36 pm) and 7 more...
#6450 of 7263 Re: american car companies' lousy performance [cooterbfd] by sidious6688 Oct 23, 2008 (4:20 pm)
Replying to: cooterbfd (Oct 23, 2008 1:42 pm) I understand your point, but the reason I insist on "better" is my experience with foreign cars (Japanese) is that their reliability is near perfect. What's my incentive to take a risk on an American car when I'm already 100% satisfied? The American car industry has only itself to blame for my bias, which has developed from experience. Replies to this message: lemko (Oct 24, 2008 5:51 am) fezo (Oct 24, 2008 10:54 am) lemko (Oct 24, 2008 11:02 am) andre1969 (Oct 24, 2008 11:23 am) and 1 more... sidious6688 (Oct 28, 2008 2:05 am)
#6451 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [cooterbfd] by tlong Oct 23, 2008 (4:44 pm)
Replying to: cooterbfd (Oct 23, 2008 2:26 pm) Amazing how people love to bash the Big 3, who are downsizing to the equivalent of their market share, yet still employ SEVERAL TIMES more people in this country than than the foreign companies, even though market share is about 50/50. That's because the American makers are far less efficient with labor (and THAT is largely due to the union). What company can long endure while not trying to be efficient when its competitors are doing better? Do you really believe that maintaining inefficiencies is the path to prosperity for this country? Replies to this message: circlew (Oct 24, 2008 10:07 am)
#6452 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [captain2] by imidazol97 Oct 23, 2008 (4:52 pm)
Replying to: captain2 (Oct 23, 2008 2:06 pm) >Agree that you do more to help this country and your fellow Americans by spending your money on the Accord Just what percent of the dollar value of Honda vehicles sold here do they build here? Same question for Toyota. How much is sold here that actually is imported rather than assembled here. Replies to this message: fezo (Oct 23, 2008 5:36 pm) tlong (Oct 23, 2008 9:28 pm) circlew (Oct 24, 2008 10:09 am) imidazol97 (Oct 24, 2008 3:04 am) lemko (Oct 24, 2008 5:56 am) grbeck (Oct 28, 2008 6:55 am)
#6453 of 7263 Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [imidazol97] by fezo Oct 23, 2008 (5:36 pm)
Replying to: imidazol97 (Oct 23, 2008 4:52 pm) Don't know the answer to that (I'll bet someone else here will) but out of four Toyhonda cars in the stable three were made here. Couldn't help it on the Celica. They were all from Japan.