16th Mar 2011, 21:06

"The best small SUV's on the planet are currently the Chevy Equinox and Dodge Journey. The best hybrid on Earth is the Fusion. The fastest sedan on Earth is a Cadillac, and the biggest line of fuel-efficient cars comes from GM, not Honda or Toyota."

By who's opinion other than yours?

I'll give you the "fastest sedan on Earth" category going to Cadillac, but please explain to me what use that has in today's market place? The car gets 14 mpg and 19 mpg City/Highway respectively, and costs well over $60K. This is hardly an accolade I'd be proud of these days. In fact in arguing GM as a good company, I'd opt to leave that car out all together as anything good to come from them.

The Equinox is anything but mediocre, and has a very harsh running 4 cylinder. Dodge has not been on top with anything for over a decade, other than their nice line of Hemi powered cars. Of course those cars too are gas hogs, so hardly a testament to innovation in today's marketplace.

The best hybrid on Earth is the Prius, and it is tough to argue that until the Fusion comes to within even 50% of its sales figures. Around here, they are dying on dealer lots. You can get even 2010 Fusion Hybrids at many dealers. They don't sell!

So your whole defense of the great American car companies comes down to gas guzzling SUV's, a super sedan that gets horrendous mileage, and costs and arm and a leg, and a hybrid that is flat lining in the sales department. I don't think I even need to respond any more to that...

17th Mar 2011, 03:29

@15th Mar 2011, 19:32.

Strange that in the top 10 places, 8 were held by 'import' makes in the JD Power IQS study, where Ford is the best 'domestic' at 5th place. You failed to mention that? You also failed to mention that:

'Among North and South American plants, the Toyota Motor Company plant in Cambridge South, Ontario, which produces the Lexus RX 350, receives the Gold Plant Quality Award for North/South America.'

Anyhow, IQS only measures what the buyer feels the first 90 days, and says nothing about long term reliability. But also this is bleak reading for 'domestic' makes. In long term reliability surveys, cars from Toyota and Honda is always on top, year after year. But enjoy your Fords, I think they are OK, it's just that they are inferior to my Toyotas in every respect.

17th Mar 2011, 10:33

Here we go again with the same old arguments about "foreign" versus "domestic"... whatever that's supposed to mean. I find it funny that there seems to be a whole lot of energy being placed on trying to somehow disprove Toyota's reputation. I think it all comes back to one thing: If Toyota didn't build such a good quality product, then you probably wouldn't see people trying to discredit them. Plain and simple.

All I know is that we've always driven Toyotas and we've never - and I mean never had a major problem with any of them - either new or old - in the 30 or so years that we've been driving them. No "initial" quality survey or anecdotal comments on an auto site is going to change my mind. The next vehicle I buy will be another Toyota, because so far I have little to no reason to expect anything other than the stellar performance and reliability I've gotten from owning their products. Oh - and by the way, 3 of the 4 Toyotas we own were built in the US with US labor.

17th Mar 2011, 12:46

I am a fan of most cars.

Something that the so-called domestic fan always conveniently forgets is that the Equinox among many many models is Canadian made. The Fusion is Mexican. It is made in Mexico. The list of "domestic" cars made outside of the U.S.A. is too long to list. Another thing the so-called domestic fan forgets is that the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are both made in the U.S.A.

17th Mar 2011, 12:50

Excellent point!

17th Mar 2011, 14:21

Yeah, I don't get it. Most Fords and GMs sold in the US are actually made in Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Canada or other places. So how is that helping the laid off workers in the US?

17th Mar 2011, 15:31

The bottom line is that Toyota Motor Corp. is based in Japan, and while there is no doubt that creating jobs here is not hurting our economy, the majority of the profits are going to benefit the home base back in Japan. While the big three, although not benefiting our economy as much as they once did, their company base is still here in North America, and they create a lot more wealth here than a Japanese company does.

17th Mar 2011, 15:37

Also, keep in mind folks, that while Toyota and Honda make a few models here in the states, and the big three have a few models produced outside the US, the big three produce a whole lot more cars here in the U.S. compared to the Japanese auto makers, hence create a lot more jobs. The tables are slowly turning, but trying to say Toyota does more to benefit our economy than GM or Ford is just wrong.

17th Mar 2011, 15:42

Most of the domestics are made overseas?? Ford and Chevy both have over 10 models, and I am guessing that maybe 2-3 of those from each manufacturer are made overseas. The opposite is true for Toyota and Honda. And in the models made here, there are many parts being shipped to plants here that are made overseas for both the domestics and imports. We live in a global economy. But please get your facts straight, GM and Ford make a whole lot more vehicles here in the US than Honda and Toyota do.

17th Mar 2011, 17:09

Yeah and most of the rest are built in Canada and Mexico, so not overseas, but still not in the U.S.!

17th Mar 2011, 17:12

Are you sure about that? Most of the good cars they make like the Fusion are not built in the U.S. I think it is safer to say domestic companies build more cars in the Americas then the Japanese... but in the U.S.? Probably not so much.

17th Mar 2011, 17:15

The TV, cellphone, PC, alarm clock, myriad amount of electronic gadgets and other stuff in any American home is for the most part ALL made overseas, and usually by companies that have corporate headquarters overseas as well. The typical cars Americans drive - regardless of brand - is literally full of components from various companies with corporate headquarters located globally. As such any given car out there today is more akin to a PC - in that a lot of the components are shared amongst numerous brands.

If everyone in the US insisted on buying only American made products from American companies - which would essentially turn the US into a closed loop command economy - then the world would fall into a global depression.

But in any regard, whether a company is located in Japan, Germany, the US, or Korea, I buy whatever product I see as the best product for me. Thus the fact that Toyota has headquarters located in Japan is of little concern. I will continue to buy their products as an American, with a right to buy in a free market capitalist economy, the product of my choice. May the best product made by the best company win. Ultimately, the consumer is the winner. Global competition is a good thing.