# How much design work do foriegn auto makers do in the US?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-design-work-do-foriegn-auto-makers-do-in-the-us/366569>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 29, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-design-work-do-foriegn-auto-makers-do-in-the-us/366569 "2006-07-29T19:40:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-design-work-do-foriegn-auto-makers-do-in-the-us/366569/1 "2006-07-29T19:40:09Z")

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I say [this](http://www.freetrade.org/pubs/FTBs/FTB-022.html) bulletin from writers at the Cato Institute about the healthy nature of the domestic automobile industry that asserts that Toyota, Honda and Nissan all produce upwards of 70% of their US-sold vehicles here. This makes me curious as to how much engineering and design work these companies, especially the three mentioned, do in the US. What’s the dope?

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**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-design-work-do-foriegn-auto-makers-do-in-the-us/366569/2 "2006-08-01T04:41:48Z")

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Well, it was a weekend, during which the board died. So I’ll try this one more time.

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**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-design-work-do-foriegn-auto-makers-do-in-the-us/366569/3 "2006-08-01T11:04:39Z")

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I don’t think foreign manufacturers have much engineering work being done in the US. On the other hand, several of them have design studios in the US, with [California](http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_n2_v34/ai_20320855) playing host to quite a few of 'em.

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**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-design-work-do-foriegn-auto-makers-do-in-the-us/366569/4 "2006-08-01T17:43:23Z")

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[This site](http://levelfieldinstitute.org) provides some data comparing foreign manufacturers contribution to US economy. I think it gives a better perspective on the impact of your buying decision on jobs in the US.

[This data](http://levelfieldinstitute.org/docs/lfi-domestic-content.pdf) which shows domestic content by vehicle brand and model I found particularly interesting.

Those enviro-shiek hybrid cars are all foreign content.

Honda Insight - 0% domestic content  
Toyota Prius - 0% domestic content

Ford Escape Hybrid - 55% from [here](http://www.freep.com/misc/frontpage/05models_20060507.htm)