why is it that the United States don't make good cheap american cars?

Answer 1

You had better check again. Many of those "foreign brands" are in fact made in the U.S. Just as many of the are made in Canada. Just because its says Honda, Toyota or whatever chances are it was made here.

Answer 2

And why would you like to drive a cheap car? Oh, if you are driving an American car it is cheap. We just have to pay a lot for it. The switch plates are chintzy feeling the plastic interiors are cheap looking and the whole thing rattles like a 55 gallon drum with a bowling ball in it.

What I think we should do is make a better car, not a cheaper car. Then Americans would not be buying BMW's, Mercedes, and Porsches.

Toyota just surpassed GM as the biggest auto company in the world. Why are we buying Toyotas instead of Chevy's? Perceived value. When you initially get into the car it feels like a quality vehicle. Americans have come a long way but we have to pay $1300 on every vehicle sold for employee health insurance. The Japanese do not have to do that. The Europeans do not have to do that. Do you know why? Those countries have nationalized medicine. The company does not have the expense and the cars are cheaper, or they spend that money on better quality materials.

And by the way if you had read that history book in high school you'd know what happens without unions. And, no I am not a union member, but I read the book.

Answer 3

Well the Dodge Caliber, Saturn Astra and Ford Focus are decent automobiles and offer allot of standard features. The Big 3 are coming around quailty wise, but not ahead of the curve in the engineering department. They seem to follow rather than lead when it comes to car design. The have to prove their claimed quality in time. The Japanese and Koreans have forced the Big 3 to seriously look a small cars again, which is good for their loyal buyers. Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Hyundai still own the small car market right now.

Answer 4

its true that many foreign brands have plants in the US, but the design and engineering is still located overseas.
America has some of the finest supercar builders in the world. These small companies make amazing cars for the cost.... so you cant really say they dont make phenomenal vehicles, but bigger companies, such as the big 3 make crap.
There really is no solid explanation why american companies cant build reliable cars, but there are many theories.
My theroy is that they can, but dont want to build a reliable car, because they think they are going to stop people from buying a new car in 5 years. If your f150 dies in 5 years, you have to buy a new truck, why do you think dealers give better deals to returning customers? If you bought your f150 for $20,000 in 2002, when you go back in 2007, youre going to be paying $18000.
There is also a theory of unions. Ford cant afford to spend more on engineering, because they are paying for health care for retirees. they have these ridiculous full pensions after 30 yrs of service. They cant afford this. Unions have forced ford to send assembly plants to mexico, and it shows in the reliability of their products. Nearly every company that has production plants in latin america, is unreliable.
VW-Garbage
Ford-Garbage
Mercedes Benz-Garbage
GM-Garbage
Dodge-Garbage
Volvo-Garbage
Corporate greed.
These CEOS are making multi millions while their loosing billions ever year.. that doesnt make sense.
The ford ceo made $49 million in 6 months, the same time ford lost $12.9 BILLION that year.. They arent taking pay cuts and having to look for new jobs...they are going to get paid regardless.

Answer 5

Those idiots bashing the union don't know what they are talking about,I would love to see them on the assembly line.I have seen people quit after 1 day,maternity leaves are not paid and are protected under US law not by the union,and you say pensions are expensive but the Chrysler pension are actually overfunded and the company can use that money anytime they want,also when your social security kicks in their pension obligation decreases.As far as our health care,we pay all doctor visits and a copay on hospital so it is not that great.Why does the US not have a national health care system like Japan?Like I said I would love to see anyone of you on the line,I have 29 years at Chrysler and have to take medication at times for my back,wrist,legs and knees.A worker was killed in our plant about a month ago and I have seen many very bad accidents on the job.As far as good cheap cars,my sister bought a Dodge Caliber for $16000 and loves it.

Answer 6

Because the union keep demanding more money and benefits for the workers, and insist on bring in more and more workers so they can't overwork the ones already there. Throw in retirement benefits, sick pay, maternity leave, and disability payments, and the companies are putting out a lot.
Naturally when the payroll is something like 390 million dollars, they have to charge massive amounts for the cars in order to break even. The workers, knowing their jobs are protected by the union, can slack off, mess up, or forget to do their jobs so the cars turned out are sub-standard. Hence, no good cars. (And watch--I'll have all kinds of union dudes arguing this answer. I'll put it to you union people then--does anyone seriously need to make $23.95 starting wage to do a job?)

Answer 7

They sure do...
I've got a 12 year old Ford Escort with over a hundred thousand miles on it, and it's in MINT condition. The only thing I put in it is Tires, and a ball joint.

Buy AMERICAN... support OUR economy!

Answer 8

The union description above explains it all. All unions do is protect the mediocre and the lazy, and we all end up paying the price.

Answer 9

honestly,I think its the U A W...too high of wages,too high an overhead,..so they cut back on quality so as not to cut the profit margin. sorry,but its true..the japanese dont have these kind of problems