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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
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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: fezo (Mar 12, 2009 5:59 am)
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Replying to: andre1969 (Mar 12, 2009 6:05 am) Remember the story about the guy who had Edsels all over his property? Maybe you can be the guy with all the R-bodies on your property? Funny, when I was a kid, a neighbor bought a new St. Regis and I thought "He must be rich!"
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Replying to: lemko (Mar 12, 2009 6:11 am) |
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I see so many patriots here. Buy only American..., which company have more american employees.., % of parts made in US, ...etc. But I always thought that American way is to choose what you like, - the best for you, regardless where it is made. If it is made here - perfect!. somewhere else? - good for them! I'm spending my money, and I'm spending on something that I like. It is like buying something useless from blind people just because it helps the cause. You want to help the American Auto industry? Buy their stocks. Kick out UAW  Buying products that you do not like or want - won't do any good. If GM or Ford see that people prefer Honda cars, how about to do some research and find out WHY IS THAT?
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Replying to: dglozman (Mar 12, 2009 12:37 pm) I'd stay away from D3 stock, even Ford. If they survive, the dilution of their stock through conversions of debt and transfers to pension and health plans will probably limit their upside for quite awhile. You may get a double or triple over time, but I think there are a lot of places that will give you a better and faster return. If you like industrials, look at GE, ALCOA, Caterpillar, etc. I believe they all pay a dividend as well.
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Replying to: berri (Mar 12, 2009 4:16 pm) I think Ford is learning to leverage things to maximize the purchasing power, something GM has been working on for a while too. The issue is then everyone complains about parts bin engineering (even though everyone else does it too). I think one of the issues at GM and Ford is they like to re-use things from previous models (carry-over parts) and that limits their ability to update and improve things. The other extreme is that each car model wants something new and different, either as an improvement or just to be new and different. The trick is to learn where to spend those dollars and where to save. If you like industrials, look at GE, ALCOA, Caterpillar, etc. I believe they all pay a dividend as well. GE not so much anymore. 
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Mar 12, 2009 5:28 pm) Depends on how you see their financial portion. IMO its blown out of proportion due to the Wall Street bank fiasco. GE is fairly liquid, but right now people are paranoid about potential financial unknowns. GE is more about things like engines and power plant turbines. In fact, if GE spun off its financials you'd probably see a big stock pop, but that might be a bad thing longer term since it melds in with their aircraft engine and leasing operation, as well as foreign sales of power turbines. As for D3 engineering and purchasing, its too focused on short term cost savings through cheap parts and design, and like too many US firms, D3 get so focused on quarterly financial reports that they shoot themselves in the foot versus longer term thinking transplants. Sometimes I think doing away with corporate quarterly's might not be all bad. It could reduce Wall Street short term trading and emphasis and maybe put product and production ahead of finance in this country for a change like it was back in the days when we were strong as a nation.
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Replying to: berri (Mar 12, 2009 5:45 pm) Depends on how you see their financial portion. IMO its blown out of proportion due to the Wall Street bank fiasco. GE is fairly liquid, but right now people are paranoid about potential financial unknowns. GE is more about things like engines and power plant turbines. In fact, if GE spun off its financials you'd probably see a big stock pop, but that might be a bad thing longer term since it melds in with their aircraft engine and leasing operation, as well as foreign sales of power turbines. Oh I am all about GE, it was a great deal last week at 6.50, now 9.50, but no dividend (its like 0.10/share or something). As for D3 engineering and purchasing, its too focused on short term cost savings through cheap parts and design, and like too many US firms, D3 get so focused on quarterly financial reports that they shoot themselves in the foot versus longer term thinking transplants. I don't think that has been as true lately, it seems like there is an understanding that quality and reliability aren't features to tout, they are barriers to entry in the market. You have to have a quality reliable product to get looked at, then once you are at the table, then they start whining about the angle of the head restraint or how many cupholders you have.
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Mar 12, 2009 5:47 pm) Are car stocks driving you out of the market? The Stock Market and Investing |
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Replying to: lemko (Mar 12, 2009 6:08 am) |
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