How American Car Makers Lost Their Businesses
 

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...5rLWRldHJvaXQ-

Interesting read.

I thought the Taurus was pretty good for Ford????????????

Interesting read. A bit slanted, but true in some ways. Especially about hybrids. GM has a great line up, and is doing more testing than a lot of the imports. Another interesting fact on how the imports gained more market share in the 70's is the fact that the feds gave them 2 years more than domestics to meet emmissions standards. Once the bugs were worked out on the domestics the imports could copy the system.
BUT the stuff about milking models with no real updates is certianly true. Its what did saturn in. 10+ years of any model is retarded.
What did the auto industry in this time was gas prices. Consumer buying did a 180 from what it was. And now that gas is cheap again, buying is swinging back to trucks.
Another thing the media likes to forget is that EVERY automaker is having problems, import and domestic.
Between our media and government I sometimes wonder what chance this country has.

Article has some good points about the domestics in the 70's. However, the imports definetly had their hands full with issues as well..I had a 260 Z that had the front quaters fall off in less than 3 years due to a very bad design flaw. Also, vehicle had a terrible time starting in the cold. Datsun didn't do anything with the rust problem nor the starting. What did I do, wnt back to Vette's:drink:

im surprised it didnt mention the mustang, camaro/trans am. ford/gm milked those models for so long instead of realizing the 60s are over & coming up w/ a new legend. gm is so pathetic they coming out w/ a new model that looks 30 yrs old, instead of trying to come up w/ something for the future.

If anyone at any of the auto manufacturers globally had a clue they would start some variation of OSO.com, On Shore Only website and actually pay attention to the people who buy and use the products rather than the Union heads and some marketing grads.

simple answer...... America was king of the hill for a long time. Made in amereica ment something..american industry and workers benefitted, had a good standard of living and lost their hunger. end result, complacency. the world caught up and could do it cheaper.

America caught on to late, and instead of regaining top dog, decided to exploit cheaper labor sources, worked for a couple years untill the rest of the world used the knowledge gained from american outsourcing against us.

in essence..a bandaid over a wound that has now become infected.

if we can't become competitive we will perish... it's not the japanese fault, or china or india, we did it to ourselves. American industry got fat, lazy and is now having a heart attack as a result. if wekeep taking pain meds, instead of changing our diet and working out we will die.

b,
If you are talking about the Camaro, you need to look at the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger too. As far as I know they cant keep them on the lots. Out of the three, the Camaro is the one that least looks like its original 30 year old design it is "supposed" to copy.

Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

i did mention the mustang. i didnt mention the challenger because dodge retired it for awhile before bringing it back before their industry hit the toilet. either way, they are all rehashing designs showing no ability to be a leader in the industry.

but the fact remains they need to let the past be the past & start a clean sheet on their cad programs. otherwise they will end up like buick & olds to the next generations(s).

Seems to have been written by another one of those *******s who does not see the need to support your own country..never ceases to amaze me the # of american flags decals plastered onthe back of jap junk !!!! not that the american car co's did not make some bad vehicles..but toyota, honda, nissan all did make plenty of their own junk as well...just seems they were able to keep it quiet....uless you know where to look !!! A lot of the economy issues go right back to people not supporting their own country !!!

economics is not based on patriotism. economics is based on supply and demand. if you build something people want to buy and sell it at a price they are willing to pay, they will buy it. country of origin has no effect other than possibly upping the shipping/transportation costs. People can wave flags all they want, but at the end of the day, if someone is going to spend a good chunk of change on something they will be something they like.

the press is so biased that making an informed decision on a car is next to impossible. a corvette can beat a porsche on the test track but it just didn't feel as smooth etc. read a road & track, car & driver or a host of other mags & you'll see what i mean.

Some of us still buy American.

So, just what is an "American car" anyways?

A GM, Ford or Chrysler built from Chinese, Mexican and Indian parts? Maybe a rebadged japanese car with a Dodge emblem on it? A Saturn built in Europe? Maybe a Ford or GM from Austrailia? Maybe a Mexican built GM product or, just maybe its a Honda or Toyota built in Canada or the US using a north american labour force to do so?

Which of those "American cars" and it components are being built in the USA and employing Americans to build them?

The American car companies are the ones who outsourced the labour and materials prduction to third world countries.
The Japanese outsourced their production to the USA and Canada.

So, when you claim to "buy American", what are you really buying?

Thank you for that link really interesting

also while doing some research for school...do you realize that of all these jobs being sent over seas that you are trying to protect, 7 to 1 jobs lost are to other STATES not countries. companies are consolidating as states and communities offer tax relief and incentives. if you couple that with the jobs eliminated by automation..jobs going overseas almost become a non issue, now toss in the jobs lost because of companies failing due to poor buisness practice...

A Ford SD..UAW built in America and a Grand prix GT..UAW built in America. With the money and taxes from both staying in AMERICA...And you ?

Those vehicles may have been "assembled in America" but where were all the parts of those vehicles MADE?


PS, I drive a GMC crew cab, a Ford Crown Vic and the wife drives a Pontiac.

Please explain why my Ford Superduty has a sticker on the front windshield that says made in Kentucky.

Read what I posted. It sure was "assembled" in Kentucky but a large percentage of the components that make up that vehicle were made in outsourced third world countries.

Ford and GM are both heavily invested in CHINA
Guess why.

I see boxes of "domestic vehicle" parts arrive every day in my shop. Funny how the boxes say "packaged" or "printed" in United States of America but the parts inside the boxes say "made in China" or "made in Mexico" or Malasia or Honduras or ( insert third world country name here).

Its not just the detroit guys who have their OE stuff made in "developing nations" ( read cheap labour force) either. I have a complete set of Nissan factory brakes sitting here that say "Made in Poland" on the pads and "Made in , ready for the shocker, USA" on the rotors.

While the "Domestics" are outsourcing to 3rd world countries, the "non domestics" are outsourcing to North America.

You figure it out.

The engines for the Ford Superduty are made in Indianapolis, aluminum castings in Akron, Ohio, and the Dana Corporation which makes the frames and axles assemblies is made in St. Mary's, Ontario Canada. Whoooo Weeee not American made...look it up, it is 64 miles from our border and about double that to Detroit.

and Ford imported over a billion dollars worth of parts from China last year as well as expanded imports from India. I guess none of them made it onto your truck?

Here's a short list of where ford parts, the ones that your American truck is made from came from.

South Korea
Poland
Mexico
Spain
Germany
China
Canada
USA
Japan
Taiwan
South Africa
Brasil
Austrailia
Denmark
India

Yeah and it's anti American people like you that cause me to keep buying more guns and ammunition. Cry me a river buddy, just remember as you drive you GM products who is milking the american economy

So now I have to ask, WTF are you talking about?

How is questioning where the parts of your American vehicle came from "anti American?. You obviously have trouble reading in context or you are so paranoid and dillusional that you make things up to support your perceived arguement.


As I stated, I own 3 DOMESTIC vehicles. Not one imported car in my driveway BUT, I know for a fact that a large percentage of my DOMESTIC vehicles are IMPORTED parts.

My whole point here is IF someone is going to rally around the cry of "BUY AMERICAN", one should know what the heck they are talking about. Apparently, you do not and so have resorted to some ill conceived personal attack against me because I dared bring the FACTS to the table about the non DOMESTIC content of your DOMESTIC vehicle.


Please feel free to stick your head back into the sand or from where ever else you pulled it before making that post and return to your normal routine of denial.

I hear what you are saying and it pisses me off to...All I can do is my best. And that means looking for Assembled in USA.
By UAW workers.
I want a Pontiac G8 GXP real bad but will not buy one because of it not being a USA build.

It's built in America by Americans in a factory founded by an American, Henry Ford and it's got an American name. That's good enough for me and I believe that is what the fellow Americans posting on this thread were talking about.

Its a global economy now. Where ever the cheapest part can be made and assembled is wher its going to happen if you want to be competitive. If everthing had to be made and assembled in the US we wouldnt be able to afford to buy one plain and simple. Is a foreign car any better I dont see it today or in the past. The foreign cars ran for ever but the bodies fell of them and when it did need a part look out now you really paid. Interesting my wife bought our first foreign car a Nissan Murano about two months ago. She bought it because she liked the way it looked and drove. Ironically a big sticker on tyhe windshield of all the Muranos stated: built and assembled in Japan. It was a statement that they feel is a positive to the US consumer.

what they failed to mention in that story was the UAW killed the us car co's...not particular cars..hard to compete when you are paying 35per hour and higher with all benifits when your compititon is paying 15per hour with not long term retirment strapped on their back from years past ?? and our government let this happen ?? now don't care where a vehicle is assembled...just follow the $$$$..where do you think all the profits from jap cars assembled here go ???? time to do the math !!

Yes, the whole auto industry uses parts sourced all over the world. GM's parts are 90% North American sourced, and the US is still the largest portion of that.

An American car is one built by an American company, that simple. If you buy a Ford in Germany, it isn't a German car, it's an American one. If you want to say assembled in Germany, fine. No Honda will ever be an American car, that is simple.

Best yet are the foreign car buyers claiming how American it is, because it is built here or some sticker claims what % is "domestic". Here's how that works. The Jap's use their same koritsu (look it up) suppliers they have always used. They open an assembler here, where they ship all the parts to and assemble them local to the plant. For example, a dash assembly may cost 1K. $300 of which is value add of the resin for the dash and labor done here, the other $700 is hang on parts and electronics from around the world. So, the Koritsu supplier pays a few local guys to assemble parts from all over, and then ships the profits back home. Then, the transplant is able to mark the sticker with "$100" worth of "domestic" part, when only $300 was done here, and all the profit from that went back to Japan.

American people, which lack pride and are sheep, now claim their Honda is American, and unashamadly bash the domestics and hope they go under.

And if anyone wants to talk "free markets" and how it's the domestics own fault clearly doesn't know the first damn thing about the global auto market.

Oh, and as to the original article, it is a bius hack job at journalism. Hybrids still aren't economically viable and who knows how much Toyota lost over the years selling the Prius, or ripping the H2 which brought in a ton of profits, etc. Any unininformed jackoff who knows nothing about the industry could cobble up a similar piss poor story with no facts or basis.

The pay of the actual workers are barely any different and sometimes lower than the transplants. This crazy "overpaid UAW guy" idea is a myth. However, the Big 3 have 100 years of "history" to pay for in the terms of pensions and healthcare for half a million retirees. The Japs gov't pays for all their retirees and healthcare, so they have no legacy cost base to pay for. Just one of the many things that don't make it a real "free market", other than the US lets anyone who wants to sell a car here to do it. No other market is like that.