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Automotive News & Views Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?
7263 messages, Last post on May 27, 2009 at 4:31 AM
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With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?
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Replying to: captain2 (Nov 06, 2008 11:56 am) Aveo is overseas, equinox in canada, HHR in mexico, Impala in Canada (with Camaro, MC is gone). Full size trucks will not be made in Canada any longer and are still being made in Mexico. Impala also going to be taken out of Oshawa. I think you got all of them! So the Camaro (and future Zeta based vehicles) and Equinox will be built in Canada. The HHR and some full size trucks in Mexico ( and there are still plenty of full size truck plants here in the US). The HHR does have a limited future. I have no news on the replacement after the Cruz comes out. So that is 5 models out of maybe 50+ others.
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Nov 06, 2008 6:02 pm) Maybe so, but missing my point - 'Heartbeat of America' Chevrolet is no longer any different that big bad ole Toyota in terms of actually producing cars in this country and may in fact be worse if you consider actual # vehicles built in the US. And as you note, the situation (producing 'American' cars outside of the US) is only getting worse and not only for Chevrolet/GM only. |
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| ...but the trend is definitely running in that direction. Toyota as a group builds about half of their sales volume here, with the imports being Lexus, Scion, and mostly the low-volume models (the Prius being the most notable import, but that will change before long). GM still builds more here than Toyota, but their collapsing volume (they will be hard-pressed to crack 3 million this year) and ingrained cost-cutting mentality will even them out fairly soon. | |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 05, 2008 10:42 am) Today the cars such as CTS and Vette are fine, no doubt, but the damage has been done. Perhaps, if the Unions want to hold on to jobs and GM, they would agree to a pay cut or layoffs when required without pay, and to pay health insurance, before GM goes bankrupt in December. Sure the government can step in and print more money, but what then???
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Replying to: m1miata (Nov 07, 2008 10:57 am) Sadly, the "best" (premium) Oldsmobiles of 1987 were not necessarily the best when it came to quality. I'd imagine the most durable models were the Cutlass Supreme sedan/coupe, and the Custom Cruiser wagon, both of which had been in production for years, with plenty of time to get most of the bugs worked out. 1973 was a good year for Oldsmobile, though. Probably not a crappy one in the bunch that year, although those lower body "skegs" on the mid- and full-sized cars tended to bruise up easily and also seemed to rust pretty quickly. But hey, it was the 70's...EVERYTHING rusted! |
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| was more than enough in my one lifetime. I feel like the one domestic vehicle I purchased (and for sure the last) was MORE than enough contribution to the US economy in the form of repairs and tow truck services. | |
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 07, 2008 11:19 am)
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...ONE American vehicle could've been sufficient for me in my lifetime. With the luck of avoiding accidents and religious care and maintenance, I could probably STILL be driving my 1968 Buick Special Deluxe to this day and well into the future.
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 07, 2008 1:28 pm) Detroit, particularily GM, has shown a great talent for rebadging ostensibly identical cars. I wouldn't think there was any real differences between you Buick and the other gentlemen's Olds. Assembly quality better at Buick, possibly, but more likely just luck of the draw - or a tribute to your conscientious routine maintainence. Consistency of quality of manufacture has been a Detroit problem for years, witness what has happened to Toyota recently (at least according to CR) some early problems with a few isolated models (the Camry V6 being one) have been corrected all within about 1 model year and that car along with some others are now all rated superior in that regard. With Detroit this kind of thing is the exception, not the rule, and this remains as true today as it was back in the 80s.. |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 07, 2008 1:28 pm) On the subject of quality though, back in the late 80's and 90's, the Buick LeSabre consistently won awards from JD Powers for initial quality and such. But you never heard anything about the FWD Olds 88 or Pontiac Bonneville, which were the same car. When it comes to things like the engine, transmission, a/c, etc, though, they should all be the same for a given model year. Sometimes minor things can make a difference with those JD Powers surveys, though. Pontiacs back then tended to have junky interiors with lots of little pieces that would easily break and fall off. Buicks were much better in regard, and I'm guessing Oldsmobiles were, too. So it's possible that it was just little piddly defects that worked against the Bonneville, and possibly the 88 as well. If a Bonneville has three pieces of trim fall off, that probably counts as three defects, but if a Taurus dumps its transmission, but is fine otherwise, that's only one defect. It's also kind of curious that the Electra/Park Ave never got all that highly praised for its quality, in the same light that the LeSabre did. Oh, on that subject, something just popped into my mind. In my old 1985 Consumer Guide, they have a test of a LeSabre and a Delta 88, the last of the RWD models. They rated the LeSabre fairly high for its fit and finish, paint quality, interior, etc. But they trashed the Delta 88! I wonder if the LeSabre and Delta 88 were built on separate assembly lines? If so, that could have something to do with it. Another possibility is that quality was inconsistent enough in those days that maybe they just got ahold of a good Buick, but a sloppy Olds?
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