4th Sep 2009, 11:34

To 17:08: Yes, absolutely. Japanese car companies try to deceive American buyers with silly arguments about cars being assembled in other countries, and shout about the fact that a tiny handful of their cars are made in the U.S. What they DON'T tell you is that REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY ARE BUILT, Ford is an AMERICAN industry and Toyota and Honda ARE NOT. Not a penny of profit from Japanese cars goes to help American industry.

In the U.S. 90% of those working in auto-related industries are employed by DOMESTIC car companies. Buying a Japanese car helps only 10% of U.S. workers while HURTING 90% REGARDLESS of whether the car is assembled in the U.S. or at the North Pole. If sending your money to Japan is what you prefer, go ahead. You're only hurting yourself in the long run.

27th Oct 2009, 08:08

So around 1 million Hondas every year that are assembled in the U.S. is a "tiny handful"?? Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Those 1 million plus cars assembled in the U.S. help American workers much more than a Ford plant in Mexico does. And that is only Honda... You still have Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan...etc, etc. Seems like an awful lot of cars to account for only 10% of the auto industry.

Tell me who benefits from a plant in Mexico, other than Ford itself for cutting their labor costs by taking jobs away from U.S. workers. People seem to skim right over that fact when defending Ford's "patriotic" ways though don't they?

27th Oct 2009, 11:35

How does a Ford built in a Mexican plant benefit U.S. workers? So if every Ford was built outside of the country, like in the North Pole, this wouldn't affect the U.S. workers? According to you REGARDLESS of where the cars are actually built it would have no affect on U.S. workers. That's pretty funny since if the cars aren't built here, they wouldn't have a job assembling them! You'll have to explain your logic to me on this point.

27th Oct 2009, 14:46

"Thank you for buying from an AMERICAN company!!"

Who has closed factories in America and laid off American workers, only to open factories in Mexico (where the Fusion is built).

3rd Nov 2009, 10:42

I don't know which side of this argument to defend. Yes, Ford has outsourced production of many of its vehicles to Mexico in order to take advantage of cheaper production costs (question: do they also avoid UAW issues as well by doing so?), but in doing so, they've managed to stay relatively out of the red during this age of economic downturn, did not need to take gov't bailout money, the cars coming off the production lines in Mexico seem to be well built and reliable, and there doesn't seem to be as many US Ford employees out of work as as a result compared to GM/Chrysler... someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

3rd Nov 2009, 13:09

As long as profit from each automobile remains here for engineering salaries and research, I am happy. Making an import assembly line low hourly wage is not growth, just lower std of living. I see low import wages a factor to remain competitive. I would rather profits return to us in this poor economy. I would like a raise, not severance pay. Why would you want to give orders away where profit pays them?

3rd Nov 2009, 20:01

The economics of buying from U.S.-based companies has been explained HUNDREDS of times by various commenters on here, by university studies, by prominent economists and in the excellent CNN special about buying from American companies (whether they outsource jobs or not).

Import fans either refuse to read, watch the special or even acknowledge that Ford and GM (not Japanese companies) now build the highest quality vehicles. This is a case of a myth that just keeps being fueled by ad hype and millions of dollars spent by Japanese companies to brainwash our citizens.

Ford has done an awesome job of staying afloat IN SPITE of many U.S. buyers turning their backs on U.S. industry. Outsourcing the world class Fusion was a very wise move business-wise, and has SAVED thousands of U.S. jobs.

A few dozen people in Kentucky build Camrys and a few dozen Honda workers turn out a few Hondas here. It still amounts to this: U.S. auto companies provide 90% of ALL auto-related jobs in the U.S. while Japanese companies (ALL of them COMBINED) provide less than 10%. Buying domestic helps 90% of our people. Buy Japanese helps less than 10%. I prefer being a 90% patriot to being a 10% patriot. Besides, my Ford and GM vehicles are better built and have longer warranties.

4th Nov 2009, 16:02

Right you actually looked up the numbers of workers at those plants. It's a lot more than a few dozen. And they build THOUSANDS of Toyota's and Honda's here every year. And regardless of the fact that the "American" companies (I use American lightly because most American vehicles are built in Canada or Mexico anyway) provide most of the money for the U.S. economy, what about those "few dozen" Americans at the Toyota and Honda plants? They don't get to have the rights as Americans? The fact is, if nobody bought from the Japanese companies, a lot of jobs would STILL be lost.

4th Nov 2009, 17:36

I was extremely happy today to read that GM sales were UP last month, (plus they outsold Toyota again) while Honda sales were down (again) and Toyota sales showed zero increase from the past month. Ford is doing VERY well (a billion in profits in the past 12 months). I guess there really are some informed, patriotic car buyers out there after all. Even after a bankruptcy filing GM is STILL the top selling auto maker. Keep up the good work!!

5th Nov 2009, 15:00

'Yeah, lets hope they can continue to do that based on their cars being good instead of just being heavily discounted. Ford and GM both benefited heavily from the cash for clunkers program and the "make your payments" offers they had. Plus, when I bought my Ford, it had $1,000's in rebates on it to sweeten the deal. Toyota and Honda were not offering these incentives, which is why their sales slipped. I would not have bought my Ford without the payments for a year deal they had going. I just wanted to be covered in case anything happened job wise.

Your "patriotic" car buyers were really just looking for a steal on a car deal is all.

5th Nov 2009, 16:16

Cash for clunkers included Japanese brands as well, and these cars are just as heavily discounted now as domestics. And still GM outsells them.

5th Nov 2009, 16:49

You're 100% correct (as many comments have pointed out). By wise business moves and extremely high build quality, Ford has SAVED thousands of U.S. jobs and turned a hefty 1 BILLION in profits since last year. U.S. auto companies are still responsible for 90% of ALL auto-related jobs in the U.S. Japanese companies COMBINED only contribute 10%. That's why buying from a U.S. based company is VITAL to a healthy U.S. economy.

6th Nov 2009, 12:10

Never have Japanese cars been as heavily discounted with rebates and such as domestics. They have never had the need to be. Believe me, if I could have come even close to the deal I got on my Ford I would be driving a Honda or Toyota instead right now. It was ALL about the numbers and the rebates. Not saying the Ford is a bad car, but it would not have been my first choice if all deals were comparable. Even the Ford dealer said they were doing crazy business and it was because of all the rebates and other incentives.

Ford and GM BOTH admit that these multiple incentive programs have greatly inflated their sales so going by any numbers in these economic times is a pretty inaccurate justification of what is really a better car... maybe a better deal, but not a better car. If their sales were to hold up against the imports after all the rebates and incentives are gone after the economy gets back in shape, then you have something to talk about.