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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: lemko (Nov 25, 2008 1:22 pm) We moved from Wichita, Ks a year and a 1 1/2 ago and it was pretty much the same way. Most of the aircraft blue collar jobs where in the $12-$16/hr range. Housing was inexpensive. We sold our 3 year old ranch with 3,000 finished sq/ft 5 bedrooms, safe/tornado room, custom landscaping, sprinkler system, 3 car garage, in a subdivision with a 18 hole golf course for just under $200k. You could get a new house in a new development for under $130k. Nothing like what I was looking at on the north side of Chicago, where we almost to. $350k got you a 30 year old tri-level that still had 70's paneling. That's insane. I'm sure prices have probably dropped a bit since then though. |
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| I wonder how many hours of o/t are available for these $14-16/hr jobs? Obviously things are slow now, but when the economy was good, everyone I knew that punched a clock was getting all the o/t they wanted. | |
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Replying to: motorcity6 (Nov 25, 2008 9:15 am) Regards: OldCEM |
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Replying to: motorcity6 (Nov 25, 2008 9:15 am) Of course, if you want carbon emissions, you need an old-school diesel V8 with 20 HP and 500 foot-pounds of torque that runs out of breath at 1000 feet.  Oh, and working in that Civic plant probably beats the stuffing out of working for Wal-Mart. But if you want complaining rights, you want Korean iron, since they'll stand by their product for 10 years, something the domestics don't want to do yet. Wish they would, good P/R decision that should boost immediate sales and not cost much to implement initially; the costs are all down the road, but by then they're out of the woods or out of business anyway.
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Nov 26, 2008 3:02 am) Here in Europe, Ford produce a good line of cars; Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo. All of which are really very good cars all, of course, with a suitable variety of economic engines. The Mondeo is arguably a better car than the BMW 3-series, (forget M3 and its ilk, Ford don't play there any more). It also offers more bangs per buck across the range. Having said that, the 3-series outsells it due mainly to "badge snobbery" and the desire for a more exclusive marque. (Although, as there are fewer Mondeo's than 3's the reverse would seem to be the case).  GM, in the form of Vauxhall/Opel have the Corsa, Astra and new Insignia. Again, all now good cars with a suitably diverse range of engine options; incl the all-important small diesels, (as with Ford). Chrysler have...................er, the 300C and the Grand Cherokee plus some other even more mundane stuff that just cannot compete. On second thoughts, Chrysler group could disappear from Europe and not be missed.  So, can we please keep the Euro Fords and GM's all of which, I'm pretty sure, would sell well in the "new" USA market - if the folks in charge could just get on with marketing them as-is rather than trying to "Americanise" them. Just my two-pennyworth, of course.
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Replying to: alltorque (Nov 26, 2008 6:44 am) You have poked the problem Right in the eye. We having dueling regulators in this country that are not satisfied till they have completely bastardized every vehicle made. For example: the Smart as sold in the EU and Canada gets 70+ MPG. About what you would expect from such a small vehicle. By they time it hit our showrooms it was lucky to get 35 MPG. I am amazed that VW was finally able to get their fine diesel cars passed all the eco wienies that control our government. We do not have a single American nameplate sold in the USA that is even close to the VW TDI and its 50 MPG. It would be a shame to bring down a company that is building good cars outside our restrictive borders. So maybe GM and Ford can continue in the rest of the World. Maybe someday we will be freed from the tyranny that prevents good high mileage cars & PU trucks from being built and sold here. |
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Replying to: motorcity6 (Nov 25, 2008 9:15 am) The fact that you still refer to Civics as "little metal cans" and consider a starting wage of $14.58 per hour for unskilled labor to be worthy of a "sweat shop" could serve as Exhibit A of the Detroit mentality, and why GM and Chrysler were in Washington, D.C., begging for a handout to prevent bankruptcy.
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Replying to: andres3 (Nov 25, 2008 10:38 am) I'm fine with requiring Mullaly and Waggoner selling their jets, as long as our public servants (Reid & Pelosi) have to sell theirs, which are paid for by the taxpayers directly..... Otherwise, that is none of Congress' business. What a bunch of hypocrites!
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