Why are foreign cars better than american cars?

Answer 1

Well many of the the above shed little light on opinons and miss some points but do not answer the question

FYI-foreign car parts generally are not more expensive than domestic( many are actully form the same parts supplier)- this used to be true years ago but is now a urban legand))

First..
What do you mean better? If you mean higher quality and reliable then..

1. asian cars tend to be more reliable than american cars
2. american cars tend to more reliable than europen cars
3. all make some cars that are very reliable
4. most companies have some that have problems

Other notes
-American and european cars tend to have more "style and flash and apperance" in appearance and versatility- so they may be better if you look at it that way. Asian design tends to be more conservative and safe until recently
-most asian companies now build the majority of their cars in the US now- so "who" is building the cars appears to have little effect on quality. the differences must be:
1.the quality control process they use to insure great parts from suppliers and manufacturing process,
2. the amount of money they have available to invest in better built/ better quality parts - if you labor/benefits costs are 20% less than your competitors you have that money to put into better brakes, upholstery, engines etc


So why are asian makes more reliable and currently taking over the market?

1. American car companies and unions (who are needed often needed at first to address fair pay issues etc and then go on to serve their own long term extistance and make themselves indispensable by continuing to extract extravagant new short term immediate benefits and high wages, under the threat of strike /slow down etc-though usually not recognized by the hard working individual workers for the most part) have not been willing to be as flexiable over the last 40 years to improve quality and respond to the under dog foreign companies as they continue to improve vehicles they are selling, because
-everyone who is successful tends to underestimate competition and the rate of improvement
2.Related in a way- american companies have set themselves up in the past for a cost disadvantage of about 2200.00 to foreign manufactures (no matter the location of their factories). They made agreements with the short sighted demands of the unions over the years. For example, these aggrements have now lead to huge costs in benefits for current employees and retirees( I believe gm is fast approaching having 2 retirees for every current employee). These aggreements also do not allow all of the needed plant closings/ shift shut downs if the markets are not buying. These contracts demanded until recently that when there was a slow down and a plant needed to be shut down, instead of laying off people they would stop the production line and have empoyees report to a "job bank" where they sat around and lounged while still getting paid thier hourly rate and benefits. This is not the employees fault really- I also would take what they and the unions offer rather than to be unemployed. Also when you retire you have some of the highest benifits like 100 % free health care forever that these companies have to pay for because of the contracts they made in the 1960's-80's
2. The union pay rate agreed to over the years has been excessive and inflexiable( no or little use of apprentice learning wages etc). Currently the costs per our per employee at GM can be up to 80.00 hour + when you include all benfits.
At "american company's" ,there are many non degreed line workers- who I am sure a wonderful hard working decent all americans- who can make 80-100,000 a year putting in windshields and such. In other words many line workers at american plants are making twice what teachers make. At the "new" non union plants starting wages are a still good paying 18-28 per hour and everyone pays a portion of their healthcare benefit. These new plants, obviously have many new workers compared to a long established plants with workers who have been there for 30 years and are at the top of their pay scale which can be up to 70-80 per hour.

summary..

So american companies have an incentive/pressure to cut costs in engineering and "ingredients" in order to preserve money for their high labor and retirement costs. But in addition to the above,in order to get their cars to sell they have to offer them at a discount( ie rebates, employees pricing etc of about 2700 per car) to get americans to buy them- so now they have even less money to work with on top of thier costs disadvantage.

Thus more and more people are either-willing to pay a premium of 2000.00 or so to purcahse a "foreign" car made in the US that lasts longer , runs better, gets better gas milage and has fewer repairs( toyota camry etc)- or they are willing to spend the same money and put up with soemwhat less quality for more style and power (chyrsler 300, mustang)

Simply put "foreign" cars no matter where made tend to last longer because "foriegn" manufactures can put more money into the car and less into labor and benefits than american car companies can.

Even though american cars have improved dramatically and are much closer in quaility to asian cars then they used to be(euro is getting better too but not as much) asians not only have a quality advantage, but have vehicles that they do not have to be as steeply discounted in order to get them sold.

Answer 2

First you hafe to remember that every car that can be sold in the US that includes imports must meet Strict US safety and emission standards so really you can't buy a bad car any more but metal is NOT just metal their are diffrent treatments that the factory does But the it comes down to the manufacture. No joke but we just put 310000 mile on gmc suburban and it has never had an engine rebuild though the tranny needed to be rebuilt at 225000 I will always drive an American car because their made by my brother and sister Americans that have kids to feed on top of that when you buy an import you are sending your money abroad at least when you buy American you are reintergrating it into the local economy and as for the whol fuel economy there isn't a whole lot of diference in Toyota and Chevrolet trucks and the Chevys gonna win the battle on torqe and trailor towing capability and this is a different story but lift kits don't make a truck tougher for toyotas or chevy If any thing your weaking you truck integrity

Answer 3

Multiple areas should be looked at when considering investing in a new car. Areas that encourage to choose between domestic or foreign car makers. Three important areas I believe should be used to determine whether going foreign or domestic is best are; vehicle quality/quality control, reliability and manufacturer work environment.
At the top of the list when deciding between the two vehicle types would be quality. Most buyers believe that all foreign car manufacturers have risen the bar above domestic car makers. This assumption is not entirely accurate. Yes, some foreign companies have proven themselves to be a very reliable investment such as Honda or Toyota but domestic companies such as Chevrolet and Dodge, are right up there with them. When comparing the companies side by side it is tough to only look at quality without also paying attention to the reliability. Every vehicle I have owned was a Chevy. My second vehicle was a 1997 Chevrolet pick-up with over 315,000 miles that ran just as well as my friends 2003 Honda Accord with 110,000 miles. In actuality he was under the hood of his Accord more often than I was of my Chevy. Do not take my word for it, look at the facts. As of 2014, seven out of ten top manufactures with recalls were foreign car makers. If this is not a red flag to the average buyer I do not know what is. What should also be promoted and considered heavily is the condition of the work environment of manufacturers.
Recently foreign car manufacturers have been noticed to be a ‘healthier’ work environment versus the environment of domestic car makers. Foreign makers have also made a noticeable improvement in the American economy by providing jobs. What makes this aspect an important key to someone’s investment in a vehicle is, once again related to quality, who put the vehicle together. If this individual is unhappy with their work environment could they be expected to be putting their best work into piecing together each nut and bolt? Take for example this theory: Manufacturer ‘A’ gives their employees more built in vacation days, better hours and better wages with those hours than manufacturer ‘B’ is more focused on squeezing the most work out of each employee while paying them the smallest amount to keep them hanging around. Well in America, most foreign car makers are those of the manufacturer A’s stature. If there was no symbol on the front your vehicle’s grill but ‘A’ or ‘B’, which would you choose?
Though there are many other things that can and should very well be considered when investing in a new ride, these three aspects are what I would consider to be at the top. Both manufacturers have their ups and downs so it can be difficult when choosing between domestic or foreign but if you ask me, I would never turn down a new Chevy sitting in my drive way. They have never steered me the wrong way and I would trust a domestic vehicle over a foreign any day of the week.

Refrences:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/15/foreign-manufacturers-bringing-jobs-to-us/2070327/
http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/10-automakers-with-the-most-vehicle-recalls-in-a-record-2014.html/?a=viewall

Answer 4

I call it six of one and a half dozen of the other. While companies like Nissan or Honda factor a six year repair rating, the parts for their cars cost an arm and a leg to replace. Domestics factor a four year repair rating, and the replacement parts at times are a third of the price lower than the foreign auto maker's

Answer 5

At one point. The American maunfacturer's had the idea, that if they built them too good, they won't sell as many. THen when the imports became "standard" in the USA, they noticed people were buying more of them and had more repeat buyers because they were built to last longer and had fewer problems. I'm still waiting to see if American manufacturers will get off their tail and make a car that will last near as long and with as few problems as an import.

Answer 6

Because America just wants to make money on us so they build cars only to last a certain amount of time. This way we have to buy parts and maintain more often than foreign cars.

Answer 7

According to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," America has the lowest fuel efficiency standards in the world. Higher fuel efficiency requirements in other countries have forced them to turn their attention to design and engineering, which in my opinion American companies have largely let slide in recent years.

Answer 8

They are NOT! Anyone who says they are has not driven an American car lately. Very little good made in Europe...Asian cars suck REALLY bad...

Answer 9

because foreigners obviously know what they're doing, our wonderful U S of A builds us crap, so the mechanic industry will always strive, while we're left w/o a dependable ride...

Answer 10

it is cheaper to make cars in other countries so they put more time, effort & material into it

while in the U.S. they make it as cheap as possible and as quick as possible so they don't have to pay the workers as much