Honda Fit vs Honda Civic

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• jacksan1 (Oct 04, 2006 5:20 am)
• hungarian83 (Oct 04, 2006 10:20 am)

Replying to: midnightcowboy (Oct 04, 2006 4:21 am)

Replying to: bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 3:35 am)

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• bodble2 (Oct 04, 2006 9:41 am)
  • bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 10:15 am)
    • bodble2 (Oct 04, 2006 2:33 pm) and 1 more...

I posted today a link showing Honda, is building another plant in China. How is this helping provide jobs for us or their citizens.
  
GM said it also has signed two agreements with its flagship joint venture in China, Shanghai General Motors.
  
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3475300
  
You were saying? Shanghai General Motors??? At least the transplants are OPENING plants HERE.... How many NEW plants have GM & Ford opened in the US in the last 10 years? How many have they CLOSED?
 
I think the trend is clear. GM can't make a profit in the U.S., so it's doing what the tobacco companies are doing - going overseas. While I can't fault them for trying, the result is that their best minds, best labor, profits, and so on - all are being concentrated overseas.
 
So of course we get second-rate stuff that doesn't complete. They've given up on the U.S. market. It bothers me to see this happen.
 
Take my father - he's so anal-American about everything that he supports whatever Republican is in power locally and nationally without question. He has bought American cars his whole life - something like 15 GM cars.
 
Yet his next car won't be GM. Even he sees that they are only giving the U.S. market their minimum effort because they don't want to completely abandon their fleet sales. But for the rest of us - we get junk compared to Europe, Australia, Taiwan, and by the looks of it, even China. His 97 Park Ave Ultra is worlds better inside than the 2003-2005 models, and even better than the new Lucerne. The cost-cutting is apallingly evident. Nobody, even a lifelong GM supporter wants to buy a rental car.
 
Compare that to BMW. You can buy nearly the same vehicle in Europe. Same with Honda, Mazda, and many other companies that are committed to U.S. expansion. And their main focus isn't fleets. They want to sell cars to *people* and not as an obligation to keep a foothold here while they expand to the rest of the planet. Nice interiors, good ergonomics, and almost no fleet sales.
 
The real reason, though, is that my mom wants a new car - something smaller and easier to drive and park. GM makes nothing smaller than a Cadillac(or Lucerne) that's decent. Well, they do, but in other countries. So she's looking at cars like an IS300 and loving every minute of it. GM? GM has nothing to compete with it. And that's a generation-old design based off of a Corolla. When a used Toyota is better than a new GM, it's time to just give up.
 
Quote from my mom:
"Wow - this is a nice car." when she drove the IS300. For her, this is the equivalent of jumping up and down like a schoolgirl with a big grin on her face.(she's a pretty understated person as a rule )

Replies to this message:
• midnightcowboy (Oct 04, 2006 7:48 am)
  • kipk (Oct 05, 2006 5:45 am)

Replying to: plekto (Oct 04, 2006 7:22 am)

Replies to this message:
• kipk (Oct 05, 2006 5:45 am)

Replying to: midnightcowboy (Oct 04, 2006 7:00 am)

I'm right! Or we both could be right. In Canada, all versions of the Yaris (hatch, sedan, 3-dr, 5-dr, any trim level) come standard with tachometer.

Replies to this message:
• bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 10:15 am)
  • bodble2 (Oct 04, 2006 2:33 pm)
    • bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 3:50 pm)

Replying to: bodble2 (Oct 04, 2006 9:41 am)

Replies to this message:
• bodble2 (Oct 04, 2006 2:33 pm)
  • bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 3:50 pm)

Replying to: midnightcowboy (Oct 04, 2006 4:21 am)

Replying to: bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 10:15 am)

Replies to this message:
• bamacar (Oct 04, 2006 3:50 pm)