- Feb 4, 2006
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Americans, in the face of back-breaking trade deficits, are still buying foreign made vehicles by the millions. Have we learned nothing?
Americans, in the face of back-breaking trade deficits, are still buying foreign made vehicles by the millions. Have we learned nothing?
Allowing the consumer to choose what to do with their own money is the core doctrine of Ronald Reagan
Allowing the consumer to choose what to do with their own money is the core doctrine of Ronald Reagan
Reagan was a 'free trader' but left out the 'fair trade' part. We trade with other countries for their goods, they trade with us for our money. This is not good (for us).
What exactly is an imported car? The best selling car in the US for several years now is the Camry, which is assembled in Georgetown, KY and Lafayette, IN. (Toyota Avalon is also made in KY. The Tundra and Siena, are assembled in the US, too.) Honda Accords are made in Ohio, and the Odyssey comes from Alabama. Mercedes-Benz makes SUVs in Tuscaloosa. Nissan has a design studio in Calif., and 3 production plants in the US making the Altima, Maxima, Pathfinder, and several other models. OTOH, Ford and GM make cars in Mexico, and all of the big 3 have plants in Canada.
So what is really an imported car? A Camry made in Kentucky, or a Ford Fusion made in Mexico?
Full disclosure: I am a Toyota shareholder.
No matter if the car is made in the U.S. if the company profits don't remain here. Toyota's profits alone account for 5 per cent of the entire Japanese GDP. By locating their plants here they're killing us by the inch instead of by the yard, but they're still killing us.
Allowing the consumer to choose what to do with their own money is the core doctrine of Ronald Reagan
No matter if the car is made in the U.S. if the company profits don't remain here. Toyota's profits alone account for 5 per cent of the entire Japanese GDP. By locating their plants here they're killing us by the inch instead of by the yard, but they're still killing us.
They're providing well-paying jobs to American workers. How is that killing us any more than when American companies move jobs to Mexico?
The Soviet Union had a closed economic system for car production. Among others, they produced the Lada and the Yugo. Lack of competition made these cars the worst in the world in quality and reliability. The same thing would have happened to us if we had listened to the "Look for the union label" folks when we decided to buy Hondas and Toyotas in the 1970's and 80's. Some of our cars are now beating some of the Japanese brands in quality and reliability. They sure didn't in the 70's and 80's did they? What incentive would Ford and the others have had to work harder and improve quality if we all just blindly bought American? Our companies wouldn't be players in the international market and we would be driving Fords whose doors fall off when they hit speed bumps.
I have driven and ridden in a Lada in Georgia (Black Sea one). I'm aware they have some fans and can run for 200k+ miles. That is an oddity in an otherwise POS car. I remember feeling rocks hit the underside of the rear armrest as it doubled for the rear wheel well and was just sheet metal with plastic covering it. When we drove through small puddles the water inexplicably splashed onto the windshield. The car cost so little that it had fans, but the quality was never close to the worst American car (at least of the same era). Same goes for the Yugo. The Soviets could not compete with cheap cars from western and asian nations which could match the price and far exceed the Soviet cars quality.Lots of people have enjoyed the various Lada models, you do have to adjust the tappets and cam chain but otherwise mostly pretty good. The Lada Niva is considered reliable but there is the balance between customer and factory worker visible in it - the factory worker doesn't clean up any sharp edges - the customer has to deal with those.
US cars picked up a bad name because when there were faults they kept the production line going and expected dealers to fix the faults. But in the main they were pretty good though they do drink fuel.
Ahhh! I think we learned Toyota and Honda make longer lasting, more economical, and better on gas cars. If American car manufactures were on the ball, they would of developed comparable models, but they are always a few years behind. The saddest thing about capitalism is people want the best buy for their money, and America just isn't producing the best stuff anymore, and China is making all the stuff for people who don't care about quality but just need somthing cheapAmericans, in the face of back-breaking trade deficits, are still buying foreign made vehicles by the millions. Have we learned nothing?
Americans, in the face of back-breaking trade deficits, are still buying foreign made vehicles by the millions. Have we learned nothing?