5th Jun 2011, 20:25
Again - this is such a pointless argument. You wanna' hear a real shocker? The Ford Mustang. Yes - we all know it, and it's got to be as American as apple pie. Yup - and now if you buy a 2011 Mustang with a manual transmission, there's a very good chance that the transmission was made in China - you heard that right - China.
Let's put it this way: Pretend for just a second that all badges are removed from cars. If you had a choice of buying a car that was designed, engineered, and assembled in the US by US workers and using mostly US-made parts sourced from US companies, would you buy it? What about a car that was designed, engineered, and assembled in a foreign country with foreign workers using mostly foreign parts from foreign-based companies? Honestly, which car is American made? It's really as simple as that. Hence why this is again - a pointless argument. I can go out and buy a more "American" Japanese car than a foreign made US car.
6th Jun 2011, 11:47
First of all Kia is Korean, NOT Japanese. Second, a Honda Accord has about 80% domestic parts and is built in a domestic plant. If you really care about what your money is being spent on, this is the car that has the highest content overall of American parts, and uses American labor in its construction. It has also been on Car and Driver's top ten list for 25 years and running, unlike ANY domestic car.
6th Jun 2011, 11:50
People will never get it, so don't waste your time with explanations. If anyone took the time to research actual economics and how a global economy works, this argument would have died a long time ago. There are so many holes in it, and it is so completely flawed, it is ridiculous.
People really need to concentrate on what our government is doing wrong, and why almost all of our manufacturing jobs have left our country. Holding fast on this one business and trying to be a patriot by driving a Chevy is in no way the answer to any of our overall problems.
6th Jun 2011, 12:12
Here are the facts on May car sales in the U.S. as reported on all major news services and the internet:
1st place: GM with 221,192 units
2nd place: Ford with 191,529 units
3rd place: Chrysler with 113,604 units
4th place: Toyota with 108,387 units
5th place: Honda with 90,773 units
6th place: Nissan with 76,148 units.
As you can see, GM outsold Toyota by more than 2 to 1. Toyota had its worst month in 16 years due to lack of perceived value and the world's largest recall in history. And yes, even Chrysler outsold all Japanese cars last month. The combined sales of Kia and Hyundai were actually only 900 units less than Toyota. With the truth coming out about the poor build quality of Japanese cars (Toyota ranks 21st in build quality out of 33 car makers) the trend of Americans supporting American cars will not only continue, but gain ground. 30 years of ad hype is finally being confronted with cold, hard facts.
6th Jun 2011, 23:03
I 100% agree with the above comment. Japanese cars are horrible snot boxes, and I have never met anyone down here in NZ who has had a pleasurable ownership experience. I love GM, and currently own a GM Holden. I used to own a Ford, and I love the Chrylser Sebring, but sadly cannot find one, as they were not a big success down under.
6th Jun 2011, 23:18
"Toyota had its worst month in 16 years due to lack of perceived value and the world's largest recall in history."
That is not the reason. The reason is because Japan suffered the largest tsunami in 100 years, which in turn shut down a lot of their suppliers and factories. That's the reason - not because suddenly people changed their minds. That GM can temporarily reclaim the top spot has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than the outcome of an unfortunate natural disaster.
Either way, this argument is tired and old and frankly I'm tired of reading the same comments. For those of you who hate "foreign" cars - even when so many American cars are now actually imported - fine. Stop commenting on Toyota reviews. Enough is enough. It accomplishes nothing. My next car will be a Toyota. Nuff' said.
7th Jun 2011, 07:04
We should keep supporting imported cars manufactured with GM, Ford, and Chrysler labels. We should continue to outsource labor to countries like Canada, Mexico and Germany. We should continue to support the closing of domestic car plants and the cutting of thousands of American jobs. There's got to be some logic somewhere. BTW, Chrysler is not American owned, it's 50% Italian owned. Let's support Italy.
7th Jun 2011, 09:55
Count again, 51%. Just enough to have managerial control. Now if that Italian is a great manager it might actually benefit some American workers. Who is owning the other 49%? Americans maybe?
7th Jun 2011, 10:07
Most of the oil and gas we burn is "foreign", as are a lot of other things. A global economy is good, competition leads to better prices and better products. My faith in GM has faded based on the shoddy build quality and cheap materials used in the interior of my new Cobalt. Every day I find something, and it's a shame because I love the look and the style of the car way more than the Cruze.
7th Jun 2011, 11:58
The latest article I read regarding car sales stated very clearly that the Japanese earthquake had had little effect on Japanese car sales. Toyota is not having a shortage of cars. They can't sell the ones they have. Buyers are perceiving them as overpriced and avoiding them in favor of higher-rated and more reliable Ford and GM models that deliver better gas mileage. Hyundai and Kia are also becoming a major factor, because of their better quality and much better warranty.
5th Jun 2011, 15:50
Funny, the May 2011 list of top selling cars I just looked at has the F-150 on top with the Chevy Silverado as #2. The ONLY Chrysler product on it is the RAM pickup. All three of those vehicles are spurred heavily by fleet and commercial sales. Nissan Altima outsold pretty much everything in its class including the Fusion. The Chevy Malibu was high on the list, but it is a new design which affects sales in any first year. Since the Impala is near the bottom of the list, that only proves the point!
Most of the rest is an even mix of import and domestic vehicles. The once great selling Ford Explorer is at the bottom of the list, but still #20, which isn't too bad by today's standards with so much competition. It's okay to quote lists, but don't think no one will call you on it. Imports didn't fair that badly, and in some cases exceeded the domestics as usual. Toyota isn't that low either. Saying the big three dominated the list though? Yeah, keep dreaming! If you'd like a link to the actual results of the top selling vehicles for May 2011, I'd be happy to provide one for you.
Remember also that these lists are not based on the quality as much as the availability, the deals and incentives, the interest rates and many other marketing factors that make one car more attractive than another. In this type of an economy, many people shop price first, dream car a distant second!