Most US made cars....technically speaking (rental, hybrid, gas, Ferrari)

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Not always:

When NAFTA kicked in back in 1995; Ford started sourcing Mexican spec T birds from Lorain, Oh vs. building 'em in Hermasillo, Mx------it was cheaper to make the above model in the 'high wage' USA.

Things are not always as they appear.

Yeah, but all that tells me is that Ford did a poor job in outsourcing that product.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by glxyman21

GM, Ford and Chrysler's problems are internal, including the product that they put on the market. Japanese companies are not working so much in "cheaper" locations. Many of them are working right here in the USA like Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Suburaru, Mazda, etc. Very few of the cars they produce for the U.S. market are sourced from Japan.

My understanding is that those Japanese companies only assemble the parts in the US, and that most of the high-tech components are designed and manufactured in Asia.

Japan and Western Europe are advanced, high wage paying areas with even stricter environmental standards than the United States. Whos to say that the American car companies can't source parts from the same places that the others do if it is cheaper and works better?

Who's to say? My point was that the American unions are the ones to say. They won't allow Ford/GM/Chrysler to move plants out of Detroit.

[steveiez]

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE PARTS CONTENT ON THE HHR? I KNOW IT IS NOT ASSEMBLED HERE BUT IF THE CONTENT WAS HIGH IN USA PARTS I MIGHT BUY IT.

ONE OF THE REASONS US CARS ARE NOT SELLING IS DETROIT SEEMS TO WANT TO BUILD WHAT THEY WANT TO BUILD. AS I GO PAST CAR DEALERS ALL I SEE IS ROWS OF BIG SUV'S AND P/U TRUCKS.

PRICE ALSO IS AN ISSUE. THEY ASR OUTRAGEOUS!

WHAT IS THE ANSWER? MAKE DOING BUSINESS IN THE USA CHEAPER AND ENFORCE TRADE LAWS.

[Rita Mordio]

Well, I can say that the F-150 is no longer Made in America.

The plant that made them was stationed in Norfolk, Va - and has closed its doors and moved to Mexico effective July 2007.

[Samrai309]

Originally Posted by Kuharai

Well, I can say that the F-150 is no longer Made in America.

The plant that made them was stationed in Norfolk, Va - and has closed its doors and moved to Mexico effective July 2007.

Really? From what I remember, there were three truck plants: Kansas City area, Norfolk, VA, and a plant in Canada that I cannot remember where. I think the Kansas City plant made the Rangers and currently makes the Escapes/Mariners (maybe more). Oh and there is also a heavy duty truck plant in the Louisville Kentucky area that makes the F-250, 350, etc super dutys. The Norfolk plant closed recently and I know they have the plants in Mexico but I didnt think the F-150 moved there. I thought it was in one of the other North American plants. Interesting if that is the case though.

[steveiez]

The F 150 is still made in Dearborn and maybe KC. Mexico I have heard that but again who knows!

[paultheprop]

I think there are a load of things wrong with domestic auto manufacturers, where shall I start!
OK design, if you take a look at a European car next to a domestic car the European car is much more desirable it always seems like the domestic manufacturers are stuck in the 1970's bending metal in a nice way doesn’t cost more than bending it in an ugly way!
Quality: I don’t just mean does it break down, I mean the fit and finish and the textures on the dashboard; making the interior panels fit is no more expensive than making it have gaps and bad finishes. The fit is in the tooling once the tooling is made it should all fit properly.
I look at domestic cars and sometimes I can't believe that they are actually selling any, Nissan now sell the premium Infinity brand in Europe but the cars are different because Europeans are used to higher quality so they had to raise the bar, car manufacturers think Americans buy on price only I believe they deliberately make their cars look cheap. this kind of marketing works in the USA you only have to look at the way WalMart do business. WalMart are not cheaper on a lot of products but because the stores are a mess people think they are cheaper and then they ocasionaly do a loss leader now and again like the flat screen TV's they did a while ago and get lots of publicity to reinforce the impression.

Don't blame the workers blame the management, we manufacture only in the US, we look to Europe for our quality bar and we make sure we have well designed products. we don't need to screw down our suppliers and they can pay proper wages. Our products cost less in the USA than if they were made in china because of the cost of shipping which is going up. Our management would not get huge bonuses for producing a product that doesn’t sell which is normal in the US car industry.

This looks like a bit of a rant and it is only a personal opinion.

[Cruikshl]

Originally Posted by Samrai309

Did not know if anyone was interested, but this morning yahoo had a list of the top ten cars (foreign and domestic companies) that were US made and contained the most domestic made parts content. They used 75% as the basis. Just an interesting study IMO. Personally, I would have preferred if they could identify major country of origin for the parts, be it Mexico, Canada, Japan, etc. just because I like to know. I also feel that there are quality issues with certain countries. But that is all my opinion and preference. If a car did not make the list, but is US made and has a lower then 75% domestic parts rating, that doesnt mean they are not a good car IMO as well.


The-Cars-com-American-Made-Index- Yahoo! Autos Article Page

While home on leave from Iraq, my son bought his wife a new Dodge Grand Caravan.

1) throttle light on with in first 24 hours
2) rear tail gate hits bumper making it close back up
3) trip to beach in rain lets water run in on front passenger floor.
4)tire pressure light that keeps coming on even though they are right

This was all in 7 days time. So glad he bought her a good safe vehicle

I have a Toyota Sienna and have never had any issues with it, or any other of the long list of foreign cars we have owned. I don't wonder why the ratings are the way they are. I just hope that Dodge fixes this disaster for my kids who could only afford to buy American.

[paultheprop]

I think this is the problem:

GM CEO
G Richard Wagoner Jr
Total Compensation: $8.5 million (2005)
5-Year Compensation Total: $22,221,000 (2000 - 2005)

The article I grabbed this from said he earned this money but I think we should translate "earned" to "got".

He gets paid even if the company makes bad cars, if he was running his own company and it made a huge loss and made bad products he would be bankrupt.

These figures are from 2005 and since then GM has gone down the pan but he is still a very rich man!

During the period 2000 - 2005 GM shed 30,000 US jobs and forced their suppliers to manufacture in slave countries shedding thousands more. This affects the prosperity of the whole nation because these workers now don't have the money to buy other US made goods.

GM are probably wondering why their customers don't have the money to buy their cars, I'll give them a clue:

"You sacked your own customers you bozo"

[texdav]

USA car have been goping down hill isnce the 70's. They lost quality control and are having a hard time gaining it back. Saw the doumentray in which GNM workers that have taken a buyout admitted that for years they knew about defects such as screww not putin the veyhicole and still shipped the car out.I had three alternator in a role that when examined had blasting media in the bearings from being sabotaged when made. Of course they failed and cost me time and the automaker a repuatation hit.Never had a alterantor go out on a toyota or honda since.Sell crap and you get a reputaution and lose customer base.