Actually, the guy making $30k putting them together, the numerous people at the advertising agencies, the truck drivers for the plants, the 15,000 plus people that work in dealerships and a multitude of other people (engineers, tire suppliers, finance people) all reap the benefits, and all of them are located in America.
To make the argument that the “money” goes back to Japan is retarded. Toyota’s CEO takes a salary of $1.8m a year and he’s never laid off a single worker. That’s 10 times less than GM’s.
My uncle only buys american, pretty much because he wants to support american made/built products. He even has taken a look at my Nissans, really liked them, then say “Nice car, but I only buy American”. Then walks away.
Oh well, his loss. I stopped caring about why people do/believe strange things a long time ago.
Anytime someone says they only buy American, their car ends up being built with mostly parts sourced overseas and actually being a small percentage of American. I will never buy a non German car because they just do it right.
I also try to avoid buying anything from a company with a major union like the UAW and when I had my Chevy from 2011, the thing was built like shit so I am done with them.
There is nothing that is very appealing to me in my price range that is offered by a foreign company.
I would probably never buy a toyota because their interiors are shitty and cheap feeling. I also hate their radio and tv commercials.
I don’t find any new cars to be that exciting anymore but at least cars that are American have some cool tech features that they offer in most of their cars and not just their top of the line models.
Foreign trucks don’t even compare.
So, what models/designs are Toyota working on right now? For what model year? I’ll give you the answer, they are working on stuff you haven’t even thought of yet. For model year 2020 and beyond. Way beyond. They are spending BILLIONS right here right now, designing, conceptualizing, testing, engineering, etc, etc, all on an island in the Pacific. The factories are popping out cars like Pez dispensers at a dime-a-dozen rate, and somehow the general public is CONVINCED, that most of the money is geared towards that aspect of car building. They couldn’t be more wrong. It doesn’t matter that your Toyota was built on US soil, a HUGE portion of the money isn’t going back into American pockets. So little Susie put that Tundra fender onto your new truck, big deal. Mr Chang the project leader and his team of engineers spent months and several million dollars perfecting that fender so she could put it on in 15 seconds.
I can give you a small example off of the top of my head, but I don’t remember the specifics, bear with me. Back in the late 90’s one of the import car makers spent 800 million developing a new 4cyl engine. The engine was used in 2 model lines iirc. I don’t know the model span or life expectancy of the run though. Typically 10-12 years though. 800 million in say 1997 would pay an entire plants payroll of 1000 workers for twenty seven years figuring $30k a year back in 1997.
That’s just the engine…
How much do they spend on developing suspensions? Chassis’? Safety measures? Interiors? and on and on.
I’m pretty sure that most of the engineering and development of GM, and Ford vehicles takes place here on US soil. That makes me feel good about buying American. Plus, when the import car makers decide to build a RWD V-8 powered ponycar that comes in under $40k, I’ll take a look. Right now there’s only 3 choices, Chevy, Ford, Dodge.
It is difficult for me to look at american vehicles or even jap cars. I enjoy fast 4 doors and as stated earlier they just seem to do it right. If we had the GM and ford cars that they get in aulstrillia I would very likely own one. currently the G8 is the only car that interest me from GM and or ford. The other major factor is the horrible rust that everything other than germany seems to suffer from.
The Cruze. Fucking awful. Recalls, check engine light was on for 90% of the lease starting at about 9,000 miles, cheap interior, base features. For the price of the base model, there is a ton of other cars out there with better features. The only good thing was it was one of the few lease cars that was available in stick shift.
The rust proofing and quality build Germany has figured out. Late model BMWs from 10+ years ago have still great paint from being driven year round. A perfect comparison is even look at VW. The Passat is built in the US and the CC is built in Germany. They are the same car essentially but simple things like the interior of the trunk just show there was much more effort and detail put into German built cars.
This. I came from an Acura TL that was great into a loaded Silverado and I’m extremely happy with both. I always ask people why does it have to be one or the other…I got into an argument with someone who said Dodge trucks are better than Ford, Chevy, Nissan and Toyota. I asked him why and he said simply because he likes Dodge. It comes down to opinions for almost everyone.
Each one does something better and at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Some do things that others don’t, but in the end, it all costs the same to build and one is just trying to be more competitive than the other.
Last time I checked honda doesn’t make S2000’s anymore and mitsubishi doesn’t make evo’s. All they are concerned about is MPG’s.
Top made pickup trucks out of what ? The 5 there is to choose from ? If you’re doing anything more than picking up window blinds from Joanne fabrics you probably aren’t buying a tundra.
The G8 is one car I’ve been talking about for years as well. I agree that it is one awesome built car that they should have transfer to Chevy immediately after killing pontiac off. I also am a fan of the new Corvette for the interior designing they did and the fact they revamped the entire design and made a promising car and a great bang for the buck. Aside from those I really dont have much interest in GM. Ford I wish would bring the Focus AWD turbo here. I seriously would be very interested in that. I would have been more interested in the Mustang eco 2.3 turbo but now seeing the weight on them… I just dont get why americans need to build such heavy cars. IIRC the Dodge challenger weighs like +4000lbs. WHY!!! I love the look and would be interested but its the weight of some pickup trucks for a 2 door car.
I agree with the weight of cars being out of hand. The tech is there to lighten them but is not being implimented probably for cost reasons more than anything else. The new mustang is only a coupple hundred lbs off from the A8 i just picked up and the mustang is a “sports car” where the A8 is usually refered to as a luxo barge.
and putting the newer passat into the built in america further proves my point. the 06+ passat has rust issues because it is not properly rust proofed from the factory. the older B5 body passats on the road have less rust on them than most 06-08 passats.
This is 2014. Any car should be able to last more than 9,000 miles without a check engine light on. I am not comparing features, just the fact that there was constant problems with the car with how it was built.
Hell, US workers making $28 an hour and BMW is making $16 an hour and builds better car. 'Merica
My favorite is when we say things that aren’t fact based. I think BMW workers make $500/hr and GM all make $6/hr. This is wrong but im not going to bother with facts so ill just say whatever I feel like. [sarcasm]Because I am in a thread that says people who buy american hold to irrational loyalty so i must post my own non fact based posts while pointing out how irrational these people are. [/sarcasm]
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But they’re all in the factory now making $15 an hour — about half of what the typical German autoworker makes.
“We are a low-wage country compared to Germany,” said Kristin Dziczek, director of Labor and Industry Group at the Center for Automotive Research. “And that helps put jobs here.”
At GM and Chrysler, new hires make $14 an hour
Oh man looks like UAW got a raise in the last contract. How dare they!