toyota passes ford to become number 2 in US sales

Coqui said:
Toyota's Made in Kentucky
Honda's Made in Ohio
Some Ford's made in Mexico
Some Dodge's made in Canada
AFAIK all Chevy's are still American.


So what's more American?

I've been telling people that their arguement is flawed for years now. It's also funny that most of Ford/GM's parts are stamped over seas, completed in Mexico, and then finally assembled by American workers. So there is essentially no difference whatsoever between Japanese auto makers and American auto rmakers anyway

The only people perpetuating the "buy American" foolishness these days are Ford and GM because they know their days are numbered.
 
Ford and GM aren't stupid. If they don't want to rise to the levels of their competitors then they must deliberately want to fail. It's the only conclusion I can draw.
 
Flamer McDickchugger said:
Ford and GM aren't stupid. If they don't want to rise to the levels of their competitors then they must deliberately want to fail. It's the only conclusion I can draw.

Nah, I think they just don't care. They've spent the last 30 years ingraining the "buy American or die" mentality in everyone so they don't have to produce quality product. They just keep hammering out crap because they know people will buy it regardless of how long it will last.
 
I wouldn't mind a Honda Pilot for my next vehicle. Too bad they cost so much and haven't been around long enough to have one I* can afford. :(















*Knyte.
 
Flamer McDickchugger said:
Ford and GM aren't stupid. If they don't want to rise to the levels of their competitors then they must deliberately want to fail. It's the only conclusion I can draw.
That or maybe it's not easy as you think to predict the fluctutions of a multi-trillion dollar industry that's heavily influenced by energy concerns which are in turn heavily influenced by international politics and public opinion.

Coqui said:
Fast Only Rolling Downhill
First On Recall Day
Fault Of R&D
Finally Obsolete Racing Device
Fumes and Odors Readily Detectable
Hold On, Not Done Accelerating

edit: Asians Can't Understand Ricer Acronyms
 
FlyNavy said:
That or maybe it's not easy as you think to predict the fluctutions of a multi-trillion dollar industry that's heavily influenced by energy concerns which are in turn heavily influenced by international politics and public opinion.

And Toyota and Honda don't have these problems?
 
KNYTE said:
And Toyota and Honda don't have these problems?
They're able to release vehicles to a much smaller market to gauge interest before doing so in America. Many of the most successful corporations in the world have realized that it's always better to try something out with a small market before taking it to the US. They were also able to associate their vehicles with fuel efficiency and reliability long before the American people realized that's exactly what they were going to want.
 
FlyNavy said:
They're able to release vehicles to a much smaller market to gauge interest before doing so in America. Many of the most successful corporations in the world have realized that it's always better to try something out with a small market before taking it to the US. They were also able to associate their vehicles with fuel efficiency and reliability long before the American people realized that's exactly what they were going to want.

Ok, and Ford can't make more fuel efficient and reliable vehicles because why?
 
Coqui said:
Toyota's Made in Kentucky
Honda's Made in Ohio
Some Ford's made in Mexico
Some Dodge's made in Canada
AFAIK all Chevy's are still American.


So what's more American?


Actually a fair amount of Chevys are made in Mexico.

Also both Honda and Toyota have either car assembly plants or engine plants in Alabama. Nissan has several plants in Tennessee and Mississippi and even recently moved their US headquarters to Nashville. They do have a Mexico plant but its strictly for their econo cars (the soon to be retired Sentra and the Versa) Even Hyundai is on the mix and recently put a plant near Montgomery and will eventually put a Kia plant near West Point GA.

In the end it comes down to union issues. for Asian manufactures its cheaper to build the car here than import and while most have unions now they dont have as many issues as the US companies who have people they need to fire but can't. The only real choice they have then is to move the jobs to Mexico and Canada.
 
KNYTE said:
Ok, and Ford can't make more fuel efficient and reliable vehicles because why?
They certainly can, they just don't have the head start that the Japanese makers do. They're also erroneously focusing too much engineering resources on stupid hydrogen powered cars. :rolleyes:
 
I think fuel efficient and reliable translates to small and weak, and Americans still like their big huge SUVs and superultramega-duty pickup trucks with cock-chafing engines and torque. Or at least the ones targeted by Ford, Chevy, et al.
 
I just thought of something else too. Typically along with the Japanese plants on American soil smaller companies also pop up for parts as well. For instance a car lighting company recently broke grown in my home town to assist a Toyota plant thats being built 100 miles away. Similar happened with a Honda engine plant on the opposite part of the state with gear and belt companies opening up along side it. You dont really hear much of that happening with domestic car plants.
 
On the large ones they typically send out a mailer to advise you and ask you to schedule an visit with a dealer where they will replace the part. Smaller ones you just typically can go to a dealer in a few weeks and ask for the recall work.