17th Aug 2012, 20:04

You're not serious are you? (I'm not the writer of the comment you replied to, by the way.)

A joint venture is all about sharing designs, factories, even entire models. What else would two rival auto companies gain from a joint venture?

Here's just a few examples:

For the sharing of a factory, well the most blatantly obvious one is the NUMMI GM/Toyota plant in California. At this plant, the Toyota Corolla and its mechanically identical twin the Chevrolet Prizm were built. After this, Toyota Matrixes and their mechanically identical twins the Pontiac Vibe models were made here.

For an example of just general design sharing, well the Chevrolet Duramax diesel engine is designed and built entirely by Isuzu (a Japanese company you may notice). And the Ford Fusion hybrid uses a Toyota hybrid system.

For entire model sharing... well... it would be physically impossible to list them all, but here's a few:

Toyota Corolla/Chevrolet Prizm

Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Voltz

Opel Insignia/Buick Regal

Chevrolet Trailblazer/GMC Envoy/Isuzu Ascender/Saab 9-7x

Holden Monaro/Pontiac GTO

Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ

Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mazda CX-5

Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series Truck

Chevrolet S10/Isuzu Hombre

Scion IQ/Aston Martin Cygnet

Chevrolet Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick

Dodge Dakota/Mitsubishi Raider

Nissan Frontier/Suzuki Equator

Ford Fiesta/ Mazda 2

Ford Fusion/Ford Mondeo/Mazda 6

Ford F-150/Lincoln Mark LT

Chrysler Cirrus/Dodge Stratus/Plymouth Breeze

Fiat Giulietta/Dodge Dart

Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift

Volkswagen Touareg/Porsche Cayenne

Etc, etc, etc...

Like I said, the list goes on and on. All of the cars I just listed are mechanically identical to each other (and some of them look the same too.) Automakers share things through joint ventures all the time. It's the entire point of the joint venture.

17th Aug 2012, 22:56

Obviously by this statement, it shows that those who have not had long careers in the automotive industry, totally misunderstand the manner in which vehicles are manufactured and marketed today.

I will say it one last time - this is a pointless argument, being made it seems, by someone who appears to embrace isolationism.

Also, I have to say, if you own a Fusion, you really should know this was a car based on the Mazda 6 and is made in Mexico - Just sayin' if you are on the isolationist bandwagon, I wouldn't be throwing stones if I were you.

As for the implications that I don't know the industry because I may disagree with some of you. Sorry, I started in the industry in 1974 pretty much at the bottom, and worked my way up the ladder to upper management. I left the industry in 2007, but keep in contact and up to date on virtually all makes & models. Cars have been my life, and continue to be. You may disagree with me, but if I were you I wouldn't insinuate that I don't know the industry, because you would be very wrong.