Why are so many Americans buying cars Foreign companies?

Question

I know most of these foreign car companies make their cars is the U.S. But why are we buying from them. What ever happend to our domestic indrustry. Can American companies recover?

Answer 1

this is a global economy, man.
cars and trucks are only a percentage of american or domestic made.
check out the link.
i'd love to find more statistics if you find anymore.

BTW..You're chevy is about as UN-american as it gets!

tc

Answer 2

I love this country, but chances are I'm going to buy whatever the best product is at the best price; regardless of where it comes from. I wanted a car with the best performance, good looks, reliability, safety, build quality, and a good price. So I purchased a 2005 Honda S2000. It is an absolutely amazing vehicle in every sense, and I would buy another in a heartbeat. You show me an American car that can match the Honda (performance, looks, reliability, safety, quality, price) and I'd totally consider it. The new Pontiac Solstice has the looks, but nothing else. Even the manual tranny turbo model falls quite short on the performance tab. Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, etc are all just muscle cars (they go very fast in a straight line and nothing more). Sure the new Corvette gets the job done, but doesn't qualify in the price tab. There's all the Dodge SRT Hemi cars, and sure they're fast in a straight line, but certainly not anywhere near being called sports cars. If anyone knows of something here lemme know!

Answer 3

I buy foreign cars (toyota, honda) because they are better quality than their American counterparts. I've owned both. I know. I bought a brand new Ford once. It was a lemon. I swore I'd never buy from Ford again. And even the Ford dealers' service was horrible compared with the much better attitude at the dealerships of the imports.

I don't think American car manufacturers (or manufacturers of any other kind) can recover. They build lower quality products and the unions have destroyed the economy for industry by driving wages so high that all our jobs went overseas.

Answer 4

For some odd reason, Foreign cars are capable of running longer. (I know a lot of people with Hondas and Toyotas with 200,000+ miles) versus the American made cars that you would be lucky to keep running up to 150,000 miles. Point blank...people want a car thats going to last. My husband works at a Toyota dealership as a mechanic. He only has to do preventative maintenance because they rarely ever have Toyotas that have something wrong with them. You see Fords and Chevys in the shops all the time. The only way these American car industries can recover is by using more quality products and stop worrying about how much profits they can make.

Answer 5

The simple fact of the matter is the American Auto Makers aren't producing cars of comparable quality.

American cars have worse gas mileage and aren't as safe. For example, until recently Ford had a corporate policy about known defects that cause injury. They weighed the cost of the likely lawsuits and settlements from people being maimed or killed against the cost of fixing the defects.

If the Ford bean counters concluded it was cheaper to leave the defect in the car, they let it continue killing and maiming people.

Aside from that, American cars have worse repair records than most foreign cars. This is due in part to the long term philosophy of the manufacturers. American cars are designed to become obsolete and fall apart over time. They're intended to have a life span and expected to require some rather pricey repairs over time. Most foreign manufacturers build their cars to run as long as possible with minimal maintenance.

I've owned a number of cars. Four American Cars a Toyota and a Honda, all used.

The American cars cost me more in repairs within the first year than I spent to buy them, and I was NOT getting "End of life" clunkers.

The Toyota never needed more than oil changes before it was totaled in a car crash (And saved my life in the process)

The Honda has needed routine maintenance and some body work as a result of a couple of fender benders.

My parents have owned nothing but American cars, and those suckers have spent so much time in the shop it's absurd, and they take good care of their cars.

My wife abuses the hell out of her Toyota and we're expecting it to reach 200,000 miles easily.

Then there's gas mileage. American cars tend to have terrible gas mileage compared to foreign cars, but this is changing as American manufacturers close the gap. Hopefully, this won't be an issue with new cars in a few more years.

Answer 6

Because the quality and resell value of American cars has gone south big time.

My sister in-law and her husband bought a new chevy mini-van less than 2 yrs ago when gm was running the 'you pay what we pay' promo. They thought they got a good deal at $24k new.

They just traded it in for a new Toyota FJ. Why? 1. Car started making noises, and things like the inside handles were falling apart. 2. Their $24k car less than 2yrs old is now worth less than $12k. They owed more on the car than it was worth.

As of now, domestic cannot compete with the quality of Toyota or Honda. Even domestic luxury cars like the Cadi's blow. Test drive a Cadi and then test drive a BMW. No comparison. I wouldn't trade my BMW for any American car. And my 7 yr old 528i with 102k miles on it is still worth around $12- $13k.

I'd love to buy American but as things stand now, we can't compete.

Answer 7

As long as we continue to do business in the "Global economy" domestic industries will suffer. There is a perception out there the foreign cars are superior to there North American counterparts. Secondly the "Green movement" has not hurt sales of smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. Finally the operating costs of foreign companies are much less as they are not unionized, & don't have to pay as many benefits to their front line workers.
To survive, North American auto makers will have to substantially downsize, or merge to form one or two large companies in order to compete with Toyota & Honda.

Answer 8

I've wondered about this for many years. Hopefully it's because they are foreigners themselves. I'd hate to think true Americans would. It isn't rocket science to understand that the profits leave America and go to the foreign country even if the car is built here. I love giving dirty looks the the traitors that drive them though.

Answer 9

Because my 1991 Toyota Corolla runs a lot better than my 2001 Dodge. That's why.

But really, foreign cars use less gas, aren't huge and wasteful, last longer, are more stylish, are a better deal, and are MUCH better for the envioronment.

The Chevy Malibu makes twice as much pollution as a new Toyota Corolla, and gets half the MPG. AND IS CHEAPER!!

It's that simple.

Answer 10

some people like the make of the car, how it runs. they are better made cars, I had a toyata never had a problem with it, and now I have a honda for about 2 years and I don't have a problem with them, compare to the cars that was american made, I had nothing but problems. people wants a car that will last. and foreign cars do.

Answer 11

Gas mileage. American auto makers MUST make cars to compete with foreign cars mpg. This is the ONLY reason my son who is in college has a foreign car.