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!
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.
4th Jun 2011, 19:16
What "real American cars" are you referring to? Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are both about 80% American parts, they are assembled in the US and even designed here. Go check out any of the cars you mentioned as "real American cars" and then compare. You are hardly buying anything but an American badge on a car filled with import parts. The fact they shut most of the major domestic assembly lines due to lack of Japanese parts after the disaster there, is truth enough just how "American" your favorites really are!
The only hype is that American cars are American anymore!