Domestic? Foreign? Surprise!

[69nova]

The Chicago Tribube had an article in the Business section regarding where the parts come form. Accordingly, a car with 75% of its content being US manufactured is acclaimed as a domestic; anything less is not (so it's an import). They gave some examples;
Toyota Camry---Domestic!
Ford Mustang--- Not Domestic! Lordy. Lordy. Lordy
Chevy Tahoe---Not Domestic!
Honda Ridgeline-Domestic!

So, does it matter anymore? I, personally, am more intersted in jobs for the worker rather than jobs for the CEO's.

Of course the % of each vehicle varies.

Now, here's some food for thought. What will the new Camaro be? Will it truly be an American manufactured car or foreign born? I guess with the Mustang, this was not a big deal.

[Deere_Daze]

Thats the tricky part when you try to be a flag-waver and say "Buy American". Im all for that, but with all the foreign automakers that are now building their vehicles here it really blurrs the line between "foreign" and "domestic".
If you buy a Chevy or Ford that was built outside of the US it really doesnt do much for American workers.

[black93sts]

It's been proven that GM isn't going to get the patriotic/sympathy vote. Didn't work back in the 80s, won't work now. If GM wants people to buy their cars, they have to beat the competition.

And I agree, when it comes down to it, I support the line workers, not the fat cat CEOs. And if American's are building Toyotas, Hyundais, Hondas, Mercedes, BMWs, etc. then I will consider buying from those companies (along with GM of course).

Basically, everything is global now, so it doesn't matter WHO you buy your car from, chances are either an American made it or an American company had something to do with it.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

You obviously pick and chose the models to highlight your point. Let's look at it broadly. Look at all models, across all lines.

The issue now is many auto parts are now made in China or Korea. GM and Ford are buying from them because they are cheaper. Becuase consumers stopped buying from GM and Ford in the 1980s many of their parts suppliers are either out of business or struggling, Delphi, Dana, and GM and Ford needed to find new suppliers.

I still say, the more we can get the money to GM and Ford by buying their products to expand production capacity here, the better.

It's a sad day when owing a Honda or Toyota is considered more "American" or patriotic than owning a GM or Ford. If that's how far things have gone, then we're f****d.

[oilissolastyear]

who cares is honda and toyota soon become more domestic than gm or ford. nowadays, all companies are international companies. your dell or gateway or hp sure isn't american. how about that logitech mouse you have there? nope, not american. where's your cell phone from?

people need to cut the crap about buying american, cause it's all a blend; parts from one place, designs from another, labor from another and so on. It's all a blend, much like american's themselves.

When I support toyota, it's because of the product and not where it's from. my prius is from japan, but we know the camry and camry hybrid is all domestic.

i just hope that when you support gm, it's because you're supporting a quality product and not because you think it's american.

[coaster.n3rd]

What about hwre your money ends up?

Buy a Toyota and most of your money is ending up in Toyota City regardless of where it is built.

Buy a Ford and your money ends up in Dearborn, michigan, USA.

it's impossible to buy a vehicles that has a 100% country of origin parts content.

[sgfootball2006]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

What about hwre your money ends up?

Buy a Toyota and most of your money is ending up in Toyota City regardless of where it is built.

Buy a Ford and your money ends up in Dearborn, michigan, USA.

it's impossible to buy a vehicles that has a 100% country of origin parts content.

Exactly. In the end more money ends up in the american economy with a domestic. With an import, more money ends up at its origin.

[MNdudeswitz]

You guys really don't understand a global economy huh?

[citric acid]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

What about hwre your money ends up?

Buy a Toyota and most of your money is ending up in Toyota City regardless of where it is built.

Buy a Ford and your money ends up in Dearborn, michigan, USA.

it's impossible to buy a vehicles that has a 100% country of origin parts content.

Actually, your money is spread out over the world, no matter what you buy.

Since you mentioned Ford, let's use a Fusion for an example. Since it's built in Mexico, a good chunk goes to the Mexican workers who build it, along with the suppliers which are based out of Mexico and America and a few other places. Because the car was developed partially by Mazda, part of the money goes to Japan, where they'd be developing the replacement. Also, because Ford is doing a lot of its development work with Volvo, a bit of it goes to Sweden too. So the portion that goes to Dearborn is a very small percentage of the purchase total.

And, in the end, is the city where the executives build their house a really big determiner of what to buy?

[91 s-10baja]

I will still only buy an American nameplate.

[ChevroletRevived]

I would pose a factual argument, but why waste my time? It all goes unnoticed to people who want to justify their foreign purchases. Interesting story, GMCSonoma, alot of people, sadly, believe that.

[ChevroletRevived]

No! They are so misinformed...

[Hudson]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

What about hwre your money ends up?

Buy a Toyota and most of your money is ending up in Toyota City regardless of where it is built.

Buy a Ford and your money ends up in Dearborn, michigan, USA.

it's impossible to buy a vehicles that has a 100% country of origin parts content.

Wrong.

"Most of your money" ends up where the car is built, not where the headquarters of the company is based. MOST of the price of a vehicle is tied up in labor and parts and distribution which means that after the people who sell you your vehicle, delivery your vehicle, assemble your vehicle, and provide the parts necessary to build your vehicle get paid, THEN the money goes to the headquarters for them to engineer and design the next generation of your vehicle. MOST of the money you spend on a Toyota Camry stays in North America...probably 70-80% when all is said and done.

While it is impossible to buy a vehicle that has 100% US (or even North American) content, most of money you spend on a North American-built car stays in North America.

And within that money that goes to "profit," the executives get a fraction of that. For US-based companies, they get a LARGE fraction of that while Japanese and German executives get a much more reasonable percentage.

For those of you who have been snowed by the propaganda about how all of that money stays in the US if you buy a vehicle from GM or Ford, you couldn't be more wrong. North America isn't a growing market so GM and Ford are not focusing their efforts here. Money that they earn goes to growing economies like China or India or Thailand, just like Toyota and Honda do. The difference is that Toyota and Honda and Nissan and Hyundai are EXPANDING in North America, investing hundreds of millions of dollars building new facilities in Alabama and Georgia and Ohio and Indiana and West Virginia and Tennessee and California...and hiring thousands of new assembly line workers and engineers and designers. Ford and GM are closing plants in Missouri and New Jersey and Maryland and Georgia...laying off engineers and white collar workers...and outsourcing design and R&D to Australia and Korea and Germany and Brazil and Thailand.

Where you spend your money is up to you. If you want to BELIEVE that you're doing the patriotic thing by buying a GM or Ford product, believe it all you want. If you want to build the US (and North American) economy, encourage GM and Ford to build the best product in the market. If they make the best product in the range you want, buy it...encourage that kind of effort. If they're not, don't buy from them...vote with your dollar. Eventually, they'll either build better products or go out of business. It's called Capitalism...it's one of the founding principles of the American economy.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Originally Posted by oilissolastyear

your dell or gateway or hp sure isn't american. how about that logitech mouse you have there? nope, not american. where's your cell phone from?

Many US chips are in the the devices you list. The Intel processors are manufactured in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Cell phones? What about Motorola?

[ChevroletRevived]

Originally Posted by oilissolastyear

who cares is honda and toyota soon become more domestic than gm or ford. nowadays, all companies are international companies. your dell or gateway or hp sure isn't american. how about that logitech mouse you have there? nope, not american. where's your cell phone from?

people need to cut the crap about buying american, cause it's all a blend; parts from one place, designs from another, labor from another and so on. It's all a blend, much like american's themselves.

When I support toyota, it's because of the product and not where it's from. my prius is from japan, but we know the camry and camry hybrid is all domestic.

i just hope that when you support gm, it's because you're supporting a quality product and not because you think it's american.

Why do Toyota fanboys always do this? Just say it man: Toyota is Japanese. But, no, you can't, right? Because that would make you feel guilty for your purchase. I've got an Compaq Laptop, HP Desktop, HP Printer, Chevy truck. I try to go the American route in ALL my purchase.