25th Nov 2009, 09:29
So true!! You'll never convince die hard domestic supporters that supporting bad business doesn't work. Maybe they'll see it after the crash and burn and things turn around. Maybe they won't.
25th Nov 2009, 13:41
No, you'll just never convince patriotic Americans that helping TEN PERCENT of those holding auto-related jobs is better than helping NINETY PERCENT. The math just won't back you up. If destroying 90% of U.S. auto-related jobs is a "good thing" then God help us all!!
25th Nov 2009, 16:45
"The Ridgeline is not a truck? What is it then? A horse?"
It's closer to a horse than a truck. It has bed sides (if you can call that little thing a "bed") that are so high you can't possibly load anything from the side. It is FRONT DRIVE (who ever heard of a front drive TRUCK??) and it has the carrying capacity of a golf cart. It has such low ground clearance it can't be driven off pavement and it has a transmission noted for weakness and early failure (just check the various Honda/Acura transmission problems). These are hardly features of a "truck".
The Ridgeline is a Honda Pilot SUV with an open area in the back about the size of a suitcase. It shares all the frailties and inconveniences inherent in the unreliable Pilot. Please don't refer to the Ridgeline/Pilot as a "truck". That's like calling a rowboat a "yacht".
25th Nov 2009, 16:48
Very true. The tiny 10% of U.S. auto-related jobs provided by foreign firms INCLUDE the above-mentioned makes. We should avoid those as well if we want to help our own people.
26th Nov 2009, 12:42
Buying a car other than a Ford, GM, or Chrysler doesn't mean the person is not being patriotic. It makes good sense! Why would someone buy a car and get no aftersales service? These manufacturers simply build cars that are not reliable.
I wonder why you don't consider BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi, foreign?!
And you consider the Camaro, Regal, GM trucks- built in Oshawa, Canada, domestic? The Sunfire/Cavalier - built in Mexico, domestic?
I guess some of GM's cars should be reclassified as "foreign" instead!
26th Nov 2009, 21:02
DOESN'T MATTER... Poor business is poor business, and to keep supporting it is not good in the long run PERIOD!! I DO NOT care about 90% vs. 10% arguments as they are skewed anyhow... but even if they were true, it still does not excuse them from ruining their own companies! Why do you continue to defend this kind of activity? Is it too much to ask for competency in business? Saving your rear end today is NOT going to save the U.S. tomorrow. I don't care what CNN has to say about it.
We are spiraling into the ground so fast it is mind boggling. Why??? NOT because your neighbor drives a Honda!!! The reason is simple... U.S. companies only care about their bottom line... period, end of story. The proof is in how hard of a fall they took when SUV's started NOT being popular when gas hit $4 per gallon. They make such ridiculous profits on these vehicles because they fooled everyone into thinking they are so big and tough and safe that they were charging way more than they needed to produce them. They then kept expanding on that rip-off scheme because people were eating it up. Did they care? Heck no... it was all about the profits. They didn't even think about the environment and the waste of resources.... as long as they were making tons of cash. So go ahead, keep giving them your hard earned cash because you think it keeps your dreams alive.
As the U.S. ceases to exist because NOTHING changes here in the next decade and only gets worse for it... remember your undying loyalty to those who care nothing for you!! I'm sorry but supporting even 10% of a good business is better than 90% of a crap one to me!! If it means the end of what we know as the U.S., then so be it. It'll only be for the better.... It really is time to wake up!!
27th Nov 2009, 13:11
When is paying pauper's wages, denying worker benefits and spending billions to propagate a MYTH of reliability deserving of our support? I can't believe the attitude of Americans who actually cheer for the destruction of 14,000,000 U.S. jobs and the destruction of our entire way of life. Japanese companies are literally forcing millions of Americans into bankruptcy and there are those of us who cheer them on??
27th Nov 2009, 13:16
Oh really? Then why is it the JAPANESE companies (who you say aren't concerned with profit) that are paying far lower wages, giving no retirement or healthcare benefits and using false and misleading advertisements pretending to be "American" companies? They make far more profits than any U.S. car company. Obviously they, too, are concerned with the bottom line.
27th Nov 2009, 15:55
Yeah and the big three have done such a great job of preventing the destruction of America haven't they? Give me a break!
27th Nov 2009, 16:14
Man do you people twist words on here. Where did I EVER say that Japanese companies don't care about profits? Japanese and other import companies are here only to make a profit, and it is not their country, so I don't expect them to really care much for the people here. Funny how their higher quality vehicles make me feel they do care more than the domestic companies though.
Domestic companies like Ford and GM that are supposed to care about the survival of a nation that helped them, and not purely about their fat bottom line, are the companies that I am talking about. They are only interested in outsourcing labor and cutting costs by killing jobs here, only to hand them to Mexico and Canada. I am sure that will continue until there are very few overpaid U.S. workers on their payroll someday soon. Of course, you'll still support them though won't you? Just because I don't support them, doesn't mean I am behind the Japanese companies.
There are more than 2 viewpoints here. Too bad you only see in black and white. Too many U.S. citizens do, which is why we are in the shape we are in. Sad really. If someone opposes you, you attack them and suddenly they are import lovers, etc., etc. I actually drive a Ford. Not because I support them or agree with them, but because it was the cheapest darn car I could get with rebates and incentives.
As far as the benefits packages that Japanese companies lack.... Do factory assembly line workers really deserve all of those fat benefits that Ford and GM union people get? Overpaying your employees and offering too many benefits will drive your company into the ground eventually... oh wait... this has already happened to Ford and GM hasn't it?
You only have so much money to produce a car and then sell it for an adequate profit and stay afloat. We can all get overpaid for our jobs. Wouldn't that be great?? Right up until the doors of your company close due to too much overhead and not enough profit. Americans need to get off their high horses and see the true worth of certain jobs. Yeah, I'd love fat raises just like the next guy, but realistically it isn't good in the long run as it has been proven. You probably thought that $100K you made in profits on your house between '03 and '07 was going to continue forever too huh? Time to wake up from the dream folks.
25th Nov 2009, 09:27
""so anything positive about the brands you dislike is fabricated"
J.D. Powers is "fabricating"?"
Okay, you twisted this around and TOTALLY missed what I was saying. Please re-read my post and then comment.
Thanks.