My wife and I live in Michigan, but we own two Japanese-made cars. A couple of years ago my dad suggested that when it’s time to buy a new car, we ought to consider buying an American-made car, “just to avoid criticism.” From what quarter this criticism might come, he did not say.
Out of curiosity, I polled a few friends and family, and one friend/coworker is a strong proponent of buying cars from American manufacturers (GM/Ford/Chrysler). He practices what he preaches: he and his wife own two Fords and a Lincoln. That said, it’s not clear to me that he has ever actually wanted a foreign car and then abnegated because it was not made by a US manufacturer; it appears that he actually likes/prefers American cars, and so that has made it easy for him to support his position that one should buy American.
This spring my wife and I bought a new Honda CR-V. My friend has said that he’s withholding his criticism because my wife is Japanese. However, I’m expecting to replace my car some time next year, and he says he’ll give me a ration of shit if I don’t buy American. I think he’s only half-joking. I don’t plan to let him dictate my purchase choices or browbeat me into buying American to please him, but I’m thinking about the issue, curious about the various perspectives on the matter.
So now I’m asking you:
When it comes to cars, how important is it to you that you buy American?
Related discussion question: Living in Michigan, do you feel that I have some sort of special obligation to support the US auto industry?
By “American”, what to they mean? Where the parts were assembled or made or where the corporation is headquartered? There are Hondas assembled in Kentucky and my last Chrysler was assembled in Mexico.
It’s odd to show allegiance to an industry that built up a town only to destroy it when they chose to leave.
Agreed with the others. I think the only part of my Toyota that was made overseas was the engine, and I’m not even sure of that.
I hate the idea of buying “American” anyway. Why? If I don’t like the car, and honestly, have a fair amount of distrust towards American cars, and like the features/gas mileage/price of some foreign car, then why should I buy American just to “avoid criticism”? And, I tend to think with a more global mindset anyway - I don’t believe only Americans deserve my money or jobs.
The part that really bothers me about your OP is where your friend withholds criticism because your wife is Japanese. :rolleyes: Did you buy the car just because she is Japanese, or because it was the right car for you? What a retarded thing for him to say.
And we won’t even get into how GM and all of the other car companies, barring Ford, fucked us over and good with the “Too big to fail” crap. Whether there is truth behind it or not, there is a lot of hate for American car companies, and the only American car I have considered buying in the past few years has been a Ford Focus. If the American car companies made better cars, perhaps I’d consider it.
If it was a wash, I’d lean toward buying the American model, especially back when Saturn was in business.
Last time we bought a car, though, it was nowhere remotely close to a wash. I wanted a small, fuel-efficient hatchback, and there were vanishing few of those in the American fleets back before gas prices exploded. And the few options had significantly worse fuel efficiency and crash ratings than their Japanese counterparts. It was absolutely no contest to go with the Honda.
Lets see in my life I have owned a Mercury, a Geo, Two Nissans, and a Honda. I have no idea where the Nissans or the Honda were actually built though. But I have absolutely no preference one way or another about where my car was manufactured.
I have a slight preference for a car assembled in the United States. Other than that, I have a slight preference against American-badge cars, I know that quality has improved in recent years but, as I am a small-car driver, it’s hard to shake the image of some of the absolute shitmobiles that they tries to pass off as small cars.
Perhaps you should start quizzing your patriotic friend on where his clothes were made, or his furniture, or his TV, or his iphone or any other of a gazilion things which won’t be made in the USA! USA! USA!
I can understand the reason for wanting to support local industry and jobs – I will seek out British fruit and veg at the supermarket, for instance, but I won’t persecute myself if I end up buying strawberries from Spain. But given the global nature of most car manufacturers these days, that Toyota is just as likely to be made in the US as a Ford.
And I would really resent someone trying to brow beat me into being more patriotic.
Back in the 80s I avoided “American” cars. I was looking at cheap compacts and compared Toyota’s Tercel with similarly priced American cars. It was apples and oranges. Around 2000 I noticed less differences. I now buy whatever vehicle I like without consideration of nationality.
I’m more inclined to buy a Japanese car than an American one - my dad started buying Hondas back in the late '70s when American passenger cars were big bags of garbage, and all of his cars have been very reliable. However, I also realize and appreciate that the American manufacturers have made strides in quality such that it’s pretty much par across the board.
My problem, though, is similar to CCL’s: I want a smaller, “economy” car, and I want it with a standard transmission. The selection in this line of American cars is usually dismal, and manuals are nearly unheard-of. So regardless of my preference, I’m pretty much forced to buy a foreign car. My current car is a 2002 Mazda Protege5, assembled in Japan. I love it. My husband has a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, and he seems happy with it, so I’m not a rabid anti-American car person.
It seems that the selection of Fords and Chevys in the smaller cars is getting better, so I’m more inclined to consider them when I go to buy a new car. (Still not certain whether I can get it in a manual, though.)
American car manufacturers need to learn that if they won’t sell me what I want, I’ll go to someone who will. The last 20-30 years and recent bail-outs are testament that they haven’t quite figured that out yet.
When I worked as an automotive supplier, in my experience, the Japanese car companies were more willing to use parts made and assembled in the US. Domestic car companies used mostly Mexican made/assembled parts.
I am more concerned about keeping Americans working than I am about where the “profit” goes.
I’m going to buy the best car for my price range that’s going to be the most reliable, require the least amount of maintenance and give me the best mileage, that I like and has the features I want. If that’s an American car - GREAT! If it’s not - oh well. I’m not going to get saddled with a car payment for 5 years for something that’s going to give me a lot of misery just because it was made by someone here in the States.
I currently drive a Pontiac G6. I didn’t have total choice in the matter when we bought it, but FTR, I love it. 'Tis a shame I’ll never be able to buy another one
The specific definition here is that “American” means GM, Ford, Chrysler, and their associated makes (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Lincoln, Jeep, etc.). The reason this matters (to some people) is that a relatively small fraction of the price you pay for a car goes toward final assembly; a great deal of it goes toward research and development, and another chunk of it goes toward fabrication of the parts. So for a Honda that was assembled in Kentucky or Ohio out of parts that were fabricated in Japan, all based on R&D that took place in Japan, the vast majority of the money you pay for that car is leaving the US and will instead augment Japan’s economy.
“Profit” - the money that goes into the pockets of shareholders - is a relatively small portion of a car’s purchase price. Most of the purchase price goes toward costs like R&D, fabrication, assembly, advertising. The money that goes toward R&D for example is not profit; it pays the salaries of the engineers and technicians who do the testing and design work, and the machinists who fabricate prototypes, and the folks who develop the machines and tooling for mass-producing the final design.
So if you are concerned about keeping Americans working, you ought to be concerned about where all of that work is done - not just the final assembly, but the fabrication of parts and the R&D. I’ve heard it said before that one in six jobs in the US is tied to the automotive industry and that this is why (when it comes to cars) buying American is such a big deal to some people. If Ford/GM/Chrysler suffer, then so do all the companies that supply parts (e.g. Delphi, Visteon), and raw materials (e.g. US Steel, Alcoa) to them.
I think his position was that since she is Japanese, he thought it reasonable for her to support the Japanese auto industry rather than the US auto industry (even though loyalty/nationalism wasn’t driving her decision; she just happened to like the CR-V).
In 2011, the most American car you can buy is the Toyota Camry, and #2 is the Honda accord, each having 80% domestic content and domestic assembly. In fact, 5 of the top 10 cars on the Cars.com American-Made index, have Japanese badges.
"…rates vehicles built and bought in the U.S. Factors include sales, where the car’s parts come from and whether the car is assembled in the U.S. "
I live in Dearborn, MI, and so support the hometown business: Ford. I’ve driven a Ranger, Escort, Probe, two Tauruses and now an Explorer. My only venture outside of FoMoCo was a Chevy Cavalier in high school. While I don’t work for Ford, 90% of my friends and neighbors work for Ford or a Ford supplier. I’ve always been happy to drive a Ford; no more or less problems than my non-Ford/“American”-driving family members. In fact, my two Tauruses were like tanks-- not more than general maintanence in the six years I had them.
