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Perhaps you are correct but ever since we became part of the global economy, the amount of Americans living in poverty and on the welfare rolls has dramatically increased.
Other than killing off all those who will never be able to find jobs, how would you suggest to make our economy grow and bring unemployment back to a respectable level?
Somehow I've been able to survive pretty good buying American made products. Admittedly I have purchased a few foreign autos over the years mixed in with a bunch of American cars but I keep them so long I'm not any manufasturer's idea of a preferred buyer.
BTW American is spelled with a capital A.
think of how much dollar buys today because prices on quality goods have fallen . i find it amazing in some areas and not just electronics.
a high end dress pair of shoes for my suits would run close to 200.00 bucks. today an even better pair runs 80.00 bucks.
20 years ago i bought north face gear when they were a tiny specialty company catering to climbers. the same exact models cost less today then 20 years ago.
countries are going to lose the jobs they can not do and gain the jobs in what they can do.
workers have to adjust to the new normal or face the consequences of being out of work.
you could have been the best buggy whip maker or the best shoe repair man. if you did not shift gears you were sunk.
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-10-2013 at 01:00 PM..
I think the Domestics are still a design generation or two from being on-par with what's available from the ROW.
IMO there the domestics have 3 big problems to overcome (not in order of importance)
(1) As you state is design, yes domestics brands are catching up here.
(2) Culture, again whilst I think the domestics brands have improved their culture (desire to serve the customer and produce a superior product) it is not on par with Japanese or Korean cars.
(3) The domestic firms have huge legacy overheads such as pensions and healthcare. The only way they can compete in the market place with those overheads is to use lower quality parts in the manufacturing process. This has more noticeable in the sub 30k market.
Net result, 20 years from now the Camry will still be the #1 selling sedan. Blame the UAW, without them it could all be very different.
I just picked up a new '13 Tucson GLS. The features I get with my vehicle would've cost me more if I had went with Honda, Toyota, any of the big 3. Plus, I get a 10 year, 100,000 warranty.
But people still knock them, mostly people who are not knowledgeable about cars, they still think that it's the Hyundai of the mid-90's. That's fine but I really don't want to hear from the guys who know nothing about cars tell me that they haven't heard anything good about the car I just bought.
think of how much dollar buys today because prices on quality goods have fallen . i find it amazing in some areas and not just electronics.
a high end dress pair of shoes for my suits would run close to 200.00 bucks. today an even better pair runs 80.00 bucks.
20 years ago i bought north face gear when they were a tiny specialty company catering to climbers. the same exact models cost less today then 20 years ago.
countries are going to lose the jobs they can not do and gain the jobs in what they can do.
workers have to adjust to the new normal or face the consequences of being out of work.
you could have been the best buggy whip maker or the best shoe repair man. if you did not shift gears you were sunk.
You will think differently when you lose your job because somebody is willing to replace you for 25% of your wages. Perhaps you are one of those workers.
You talk just like every greedy business owner, buy cheaply made foreign goods but resell them to Americans.
I'm thinking either you are foreign born or your teacher hasn't started you on caps yet?
I normally start a sentence with a capital letter but obviously you were not taught that so I can understand where buying cheap is a priority for you.
Actually you are wrong on all accounts. Im lefty and type with one finger and when on my laptop i find it to cumbersome to keep typing and using the shift key.
No im not a foreigner ,born and raised right in queens nyc .
Sorry to to tell you i was very effected by jobs going overseas. In fact our company manufactures industrial pumps.
We were being driven out of business by competitors winning major bids because they made their pumps in mexico a whole lot cheaper then we did here.
So we shifted gears. We decided to make the castings in china but design,assemble and test them right here in good old long island ny employing over 100 people.
While we don't win every bid and still cannot get as down and dirty as our competitors who do it all overseas we put our heads together and shifted gears again.
Adding to the pumps we offer custom control panels for those pumps .
We design and build everything right here and while competitors take 4 to 6 weeks to build overseas we can do over night if need be.
We have some of the top design engineers in the industry employed by us right here.
We have since added motor rewinding and repairs as well factory automation products to our basket of goods and capabilities.
We went from almost being driven out of business to being on track to be a 60 million dollar company this year.
It is all about adapting to the times and doing what you do best and constantly being creative . When it looks like another country will do what you do beat them to the punch.
Use them for what they can do and add to it increasing the benefit for you.
We are aways looking ahead and have a great staff of forward looking employees.
It is this constant ability to shift gears here today that has us growing and thriving utilizing the very thing that almost made us a ghost of a company.
To many people and to many companies are chasing ghosts today. They keep hoping they can earn what they did or make what they made even though that ship sailed.
While you have those complaining about it others are racking their brains out shifting those gears into new fields and opportunities.
You have to be very careful about drawing conclusions about people. In this case you could not be more wrong.
P.s. while you are checking for capital letters feel free to spell check to ,i can't be bothered.
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-10-2013 at 02:32 PM..
They made some real good well built vehicles during the 1970s and even into the 1980s but not anymore. The vehicles they make today are poorly built tiny egg shaped econoboxes that all look the same and their pickups made today are just as bad. There is a reason why my newest vehicle is a 1979 model cause the vehicles made today cannot hold a candle to the one's built then.
A lot of people have got it in their head that American cars are of a lower quality, craftsmanship, and less reliable than Japanese or European cars. While in the early to mid 1990's, American automakers made some pretty cheap pretty crappy cars, they have turned their game around, especially since the 2008 recession. Today American cars are on the forefront of it all, they combine the best of reiability with economy and price. American cars are not expected to be that luxurious, because they are usually more economical cars packed with more power or more MPG's and fewer luxuries.
The Corvette and Viper dominate the world sports car leage as being some of the fastest and best handling cars in their class, and their prices cannot be beaten. But of course, they are not luxury cars, strictly performance.
The Chevy Cruze offers an unmatched 43MPG on the highway, all gasoline engine, no hybrid option
The new Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus also offer impressive fuel economy.
Honestly, the only American automaker that seems to be lagging behind, and has been for awhile, is Dodge/Chrysler. Their cars are only marketable in the United States. They are too large, too heavy, and too inefficient to be sold or desired elsewhere across the world. Luckily for Dodge/Chrysler, they merged with Fiatt, who has a market outside of the U.S, but a very small market within the U.S. This merging should benefit both companies.
I recall around that same time knowing someone who had a VW diesel that got about the same mpg.
Why are today's automakers struggling so hard to design cars that get high mpg when at least one automaker figured it out almost 40 years ago? I understand that safety equipment has added to the weight and resultant mpg over the years but that much!?
Your memory about the CRX as "zippy" is wishful thinking. It was not "zippy" by today's standards. The "HF" model had just 76 HP. My father had one, and he regularly got 50 MPG on it. The car was economical mostly because of its very light weigh (about 1800 lbs) and the small engine. Compare to today's Honda Fit, which weighs 2400 lbs, seats 4, and has 109 HP. Today's subcompact cars are vastly safer (and much heavier) than cars like the CRX. That weight includes a huge amount of equipment like power windows, power steering, etc in addition to frame strength and safety equipment.
American corporation cars are better now than they use to be ....however they were pushed to built better cars by the Asians in my view. They are still following not leading. I was a dedicated GM owner until they built a car that left my wife stranded over and over and over again. Bought Asian since then and have never been left stranded so why go back.... if they take care of consumers they will succeed if they dont that wont.
Two vehicles were in accidents over the past 2 years resulting in me driving two GM products for a month each. Couldnt wait to get my Infiniti's back and wont be changing any time soon.
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