Why do half of Americans buy Asian cars?

Question

GM has a better or equal quality product. Ford and Chrysler are getting better.

Even though the claim is made that Toyotas are 'made' in the USA, that's not really true. The bulk of the car's drivetrain, electronics and other parts are imported from asia, the largest parts are made here and the cars are assembled here. Whatever the details, the FACT is: PROFITS GO OVERSEAS. We send our money to Japan and Korea DAILY while our workers are laid off.

Just imagine if Ford, Chrysler and GM go broke and go bankrupt. We will loose the cornerstone of American manufacturing. Do you know why? They were NEVER allowed to compete on an equal basis. Japan and Korea have rescricted imported American made cars to promote their country's economy. It worked and now that policy may destroy our economy.
These Japanese companies take advantage of under-developed areas here with low wages and HUGE tax breaks. We are sacrificing regional growth for National economic security.
WAKE UP AMERICA!

Answer 1

Your absolutely right, unfortunatly americans are selfish and often cannot look beyond themselves. They loath the unions that pay these huge wages while they feel they work much harder and get 1/4 the pay,

it's tough to get compassion from people while they feel this way. Somehow they think this country is undestructable, and don't feel the need to support it, by the time it's figured out, it's going to be too late.

Answer 2

You think GM, Ford, Chrysler are American companies? LOL Guess you don't look past names huh.

GM builds their items in Canada and Mexico. Ford also builds outside of the USA. And Chrysler.....ummm does Daimler ring a bell for being foreign? Let alone the entire new Saturn line is all imports from the UK from GM's Opel division. So was the Cadillac Caterra and the new Pontiac Solstice and the newest Chevy Impala.

GM, Ford, Chrysler makes a good vehicle? LOL guess you don't read stats on how long they last, how happy customers are, how many issues they have when purchased, etc. The Trailblazer alone has a record of an average of 31 items wrong with it when its brand new and being bought. That is not quality, that is slop work.

Toyota and Honda products are more American made than those that claim to be American car makers, for at least those 2 build their cars here giving jobs. And you claim on parts are all made over seas and shipped in, again you lack facts. Go to Columbus, OH alone, just east of one of Honda's main plants and you will find over 200 companies alone that build parts for just that Honda plant.

Have your facts straight......and get your facts from some place else than hear-say or a comic book. And I don't recommend Car n Driver or the others for correct stats either.

Answer 3

The fact is that Japanese cars are better, GM is not equal or better, not even close! And also most Japanese cars are built here, and by that they mean its assembled here. I drive a Chevrolet and I like, but its just a proven fact that they last and are made better then American. And when someone is spending mid 20's to upper 30's or higher for a car thats a big purchase for alot of people and they want to get something that they feel is good quality and they are getting there money's worth. I feel your pain, but I see the other side too.

Answer 4

Because most "American" cars are not made in the US. Ford has more plants south of the Mexican border than in the US. Same for GM. Nearly every Nissan sold in the US is made in TN, Hondas in OH, and most Toyotas in MI or IN. You say to buy Chrysler but they are a German owned company (Daimler)...how is that any better? Profits of these companies do not necessarily go overseas. They go to the shareholders who are partly American, partly, Asian, and also from other nations.

Plus, its the American worker that matters to me, not the old rich guys. If Honda, Nissan and Toyota want to employ thousands of Americans in their factories and pay them a good wage with benifits, I will buy thier product. If GM and Ford want to employ Mexicans and pay them substandard wages with no benifits, I won't buy thier product. Which is doing a better service to the US Citizen?

Wake up, its a global economy and until Ford and GM start making cars in the US again and also increase quality, they will continue to lose market share to foriegn auto makers.

I buy American, that's why I bought a Nissan Frontier. It was built in Smyrna, Tennessee by American workers with American made parts that were delivered by American shipping companies.

I could have bought a Ford Ranger, but I didn't want my dollar turned to pesos.

Answer 5

Your first statement is not corroborated by any of the third-party consumer groups, which very consistently give Honda and Toyota top ratings for reliability and resale value. As a consumer, I want the best product for my dollar. If American companies are incapable of giving me better value than a foreign company, I will buy a foreign car. It's that simple.

After all, that's the way capitalism is supposed to work. Consumers buy the best product they can get for their money, and companies constantly strive to give them that. Maybe it's Ford, GM, and Chrysler who need to wake up and listen to the American people.

Answer 6

GM does not have a quality product. Sorry but they don't. Americans buy foreign cars because they are made better and last longer (or at least most of them do, Toyota is having some problems). I am all for American products made in the USA if they are quality products. I would even pay more for products made in the USA than the crap China is turning out. I agree with you it is unfair that foreign markets tax the crap out of our exports and we don't do the same to them BUT the bottom line is if the United States made a good quality car more people would buy American made cars. Survival of the fittest American auto makers need to wake up and produce better cars and you need to quit blaming the consumer!!

Answer 7

On a Micro-level, the actual GM worker, you are correct to care for him/her and there family. But using your logic, the U.S. should still knit sweaters and make brooms. The U.S. mighty economy evolved from agrarian, to industrial manufacturing, and now to service/tech/pharma. The evolution is painful to the actual family that suffered, but on a macro-level, it is better for the economy on a whole. Please read something on Comparative advantage- Iread a book in college that read like a story, but cannot remember who wrote it. Also arguments for free trade are posted in wikipedia. Free-trade is actually a science, it is not an opinion of a politician, but you can see the models and data that support free-trade. Under free-trade we no longer have the competitive advantage to make cars, we should get over it.

I know a Welsh family that suffered when the coal mines closed in the 80s, due to the fact that the Gov't was subsidizing the industry, it lost its comparitive adv. The sons of the family are doing well working in London, one at an Investment bank. He fully acknowledges that he would have been a coal miner like his father and grandfather, he recently bought his parents a beautiful house in the Wales countryside- something he and his father could have never done if he had become a coal miner...

Answer 8

These days, it's hard to tell

•Foreign cars made in the USA.
Honda's Ohio-built Accord is 70% domestic parts. Toyota's Corolla is made in a California plant alongside General Motors models.

•American cars made abroad.
Ford's hit Fusion sedan is made in Mexico; only half its parts are from the USA or Canada. GM pitches its small HHR sport utility and giant Suburban straight at the American market, but they, too, are built in Mexico. HHR has only 41% American and Canadian parts.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-03-21-car-content-chart_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-03-22-american-usat_N.htm

Answer 9

Asians can put more of their money into the actual building of the car. American companies have to spend an incredible amount of money on 1) lawsuits, and 2) medical care. American companies will be at a disadvantage as long as this is the case.

Answer 10

My family and I have always bought American cars, more specifically GM cars.

Anyone who says American cars are not as well made as foreign cars and that they need constant repair obviously doesn´t know anything about car maintenance. My dad has always done all his own repair work on our Chevys and Pontiacs and they have all lasted over a decade. I don´t know anyone who has a Toyota or Honda that has lasted that long or has been kept in such good condition. The problems don´t like with cars themselves, but rather peoples´ ignorance on how to take care of them. You have to treat a car as if it were your own child!

I had a 1994 Geo Prizm with well over 200,000 miles on it that is just being taken off the road now, not because it doesn´t work, but because the struts it needs would outcost the value of the car.

I will always buy GM cars.

Answer 11

1. This is not a question. You're just on a soap box.
2. If you think GM makes cars just as good as Toyota, you must smoke crack. I would bet Rick Wagoner doesn't even believe that.
3. While GM, Ford, and Chrysler are closing plants and firing (overpaid) workers, Honda, Toyota, etc are HIRING Americans at a fair wage and building great products which people want to buy.
We have woken up, my friend. It's the "Big Three" who are sound asleep.