I own a Toyota p.u. Why? reliability, more value for MY money. What U.S. auto maker can make the claims for small engines like the Japanese? I've said it before, I don't care much for anything built after 1973. V-8s will be in my blood forever but I don't want to drive one to work, I can't afford it. Dan

Parts are built all over the world. Cars are assembled where-ever it makes economic sense for the target market. Is a Nissan a Japanese vehicle even though it was assembled in Tennessee from parts coming from everywhere? How about my wife's "German" Volkswagen Fox, which was built in Brazil?

I would stack the U.S. labor force against any in the world and bet, overall, they'd come out on top, *IF* they're allowed to do the work the best they know how. I would turn that bet around for U.S. management; from mid-level execs up, there are more whitecollars looking to pad their resumes and move on than are looking to do their best where they are. When those late '70's GM vehicles were rusting out before 50K miles, it wasn't the workers' fault. When the Bronco II was built too tipsy for even the Ford test drivers to run on a test track, but not too tipsy for Ford management to sell to soccer moms, it wasn't the engineers' fault (they tried to get management to let them widen the track just 3 to 4 inches, but management decided to increase the track 4/10ths).

Cars have been global products for a long time. You can't tell where it was built by just looking at the name and therefore you can't tell if it was imported to your country just by looking at the name.

The auto industry has changed and now the jap crap is built right here in the USA. The profits still go oversea's and we still loose jobs to outsourcing but there are some manufacturing jobs coming from them being built here instead of oversea's.

Tazz


Rat Rods Rule!

We have McDonalds in China.

Better re-read the posts by the starter of this thread; he works for Honda. How about a couple of quotes from the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor and Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs012.htm



Notice that very last phrase, "[...] account for a growing share of U.S. production and employment."

Here's another quote from the same page:



Those Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, and so on, that are being built in the U.S., by U.S. workers, have ripple effects right down to your neighborhood '5 and dime' selling windshield squeegees and sponges (likely with a teen-ager behind the cash register with his or her first job). Now the programmer who coded the welding and painting robots may be living in India and some castings may be coming from China and the fuel injection components may come from Germany and the disc rotors may come from Brazil, but none of that eliminates the millions of jobs created in multiple sectors of employment, by those U.S. workers putting together cars for U.S. citizens to purchase, service, maintain and accessorize.

80% of Hondas parts are manufactured right in Ohio. There are over 600 suppliers in Ohio that make the parts.The rest come from the surrounding states...except for the wiring harnesses(they come from Mexico)
Later,
WEIMER

statement #1, so true.
statement #2, part of the reason we're outsourcing everything overseas, no labor board etc....

some of them. Have you ever seen a burgandy 80s Caprice on 24s with pink racing stripes? I've seen one yesterday. And a Cutlass Supreme, circa 1980s on 24 inch spinners. At least the paint was nice on it.

A lot of the ricers like their "dubbbbbzzzzzz" and bling crap, there's some that are real hotrodders though, I do believe there is a turbocharged civic romaning around town, it was red with a (surprisingly) tasteful body kit and wing, and all I know is it had the "pssst" of a blowoff valve and got rubber in 2nd, which is impressive for a 4popper.

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[QUOTE=RCastle]I'll take a jab at some that I know of....

Saturn manufacters vehicles in Spring Hills Tenn.

[QUOTE]

Saturn makes the L-cars in Wilmington, Delaware too. I'm not sure where the VUE is built, but it's somewhere here in the USA and the v6 ones (the 240hp ones) will eat most anything for lunch.

You just gave me a great idea Ron, Since Walmart here in america is taking over small business owners and stuff like that. Why don't we have Walmart start setting up business in other countries. And mess with there small shops!



Brad

I almost missed that. Don't be blaming Union workers for mismanagement. Roll the costs of benefits gained by UAW together and it won't equal the annual electric bill at a plant. You can't say that for the upper management perks and parachutes and retirement and stock options. Did Unions decree that the "big three" continue marketing fashion instead of engineering? Did Unions decide to postpone retooling plants until so many sales were lost to imports that whole lines were shut down? Did Unions decide, for example, to put a former dog food sales CEO in charge of Oldsmobile and kill the brand completely?

You don't blame the private in the fox hole for idiotic war strategies.

On the other hand, it's not too hard to find reports of high rates of repetitive stress injuries and other unsafe working conditions at non-Union auto assembly plants. OSHA's "voluntary compliance" policy just means a lot of places voluntarily fail to comply. The estimate I've seen is that it would take OSHA 167 years to inspect workplaces just once, with their current number of inspectors. There has to be a balance, somewhere.

[Edited to add...]
I'd like to see a comparison of total compensation to upper management in the U.S. versus elsewhere.

Really?...And you know for a fact that the profits are going overseas? Is that what Ford tells you when you go to work? You do still work there right? Or did they lay you off? Maybe the plant is shut down?
What is outsourced overseas as far as Honda goes? Because the last time I checked everything in relationship to the American Honda plants are done within driving distance of the plant.
Do you care to share where most of the parts for Ford are being built at? And you are a Union plant right...what do you do there again...fill transmissions with fluid. Lets see I have the choice of about 16 different jobs to do when I go to work, because someone ISN'T trying to file a greivance against me for doing their job.
This is the simple ignorance that I am tired of dealing with...people that think they know everything and in all reality are just talking out of their ***.


WHO do you think is making everything to stock the shelves with? That is just going to help THEIR economy that much more because then they won't have to pay export taxes and shipping fees. They will just be buying from the local mom/pop shops then.

Later,
WEIMER

I see your point wiemer, I forgot all the walmart stuff was made in china, and taiwan or some other country.
Personally from my point of veiw, I really don't care if the car is an import, or domestic or an import that is made in america. I agree that the honda and toyota cars are good on gas mileage and maintence. The only time I ever call a car jap crap or a ricer, is when theres a coffee can and a bookshelf on the back of it. Then its fair game to use every insult in the book on that one.


Brad

There is definitely something wrong with American car companies. Chew on the fact that a company based oversees finds it more profitable to build almost the entire car where they are selling it; using the same workforce that the big 3 abandoned in favor of shipping theirs cars from outside the country. The big question is whether the Unions made labor too expensive, or that upper management doesn't have a clue.

The Cobalt assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio near where I grew up started workers off at $18.00/hr with went up to $20 if you stayed for 90 days. This was in the late 1990's (still building the cavi & sunfire) so I don't know what it is now. How much is starting for a 18-20 year old at Honda?

I would buy a Honda if they have something to offer me. I happen to not like FWD or 4 cylinders, sadly that writes off almost the whole line. The Accord would be nice as a RWD. The S2000 has a lame 4 banger in it that doesn't have any power until 5000RPM. I wish Honda would build a V8 (or turbo V6) and a decent truck or large car platform for it.

Matter of fact, my G/F & I are searching for another car, and have narrowed it down to a firebird or a 1997-up buick regal. Buicks seem have the longest lives of any American car, and are leaps and bounds higher in quality than their GM cousins. Her 1989 centrury had 130,000 miles and you'd swear it was only a couple of years old. How many celebrities do you see anymore? Unfortunately it met a dodge truck.....

I think the rust is a moot point. There aren't many vehicles from the mid-late 70's because steel everywhere sucked. I've seen my fair share of rusted toyota's & Honda's. Actually, I see a ton of early 90's civics with rusted rear quarters around town. I think the entire industry picked up the quality in the mid 90's from increased competition and it's evident today.

78novaman,
I ran across an article that backs up your statement about something being wrong.

From "The U.S. Automobile Manufacturing Industry" by Prof. Charles H. Fine and Dr. Richard St. Clair, http://www.technology.gov/Reports/autos/auto.pdf



That study is from 1996. It's amazing to me that extremely well compensated upper execs were still so disconnected from the actual work and workers that they didn't think "lean production" could be transferred to the U.S. and U.S. workers! Maybe they should be required to come out of the gilded executive bathrooms at least annually and (ugh!) speak to an hourly worker on the line.