Why do American automobile manufacturers continue to produce inferior products?

Question

Consumer Reports lists 59 used cars as good bets. The ratings are based upon the overall performance of the cars with respect to reliability as well as other factors. Of the 59 cars, 4 are American designed and manufactured:1. Buick Regal 2. Chevrolet Prizm 3. Lincoln Town Car 4. Pontiac Vibe. The remaining 55 are all Japanese designed cars - some of which are actually assembled in the United States! So why can't American manufacturers make an equally good product? This has been the case for decades and despite the claims of parity, there doesn't appear to be a significant gains in overall quality.

Someone stated "do more research": the information concerning the "used" cars was gathered from Consumer Reports Online on November 22,2007. The question states "used cars" not new cars.

Also, just to be clear, I am pro American cars (I owned a 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora with 102k on the clock before trading it in): however, the statistics gathered do show that, on average, American cars depreciate faster than Japanese cars. Also, German cars, Swedish cars and Korean cars do not do as well as Japanese cars.

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/310/the-years-poorest-performing-cars;_ylc=X3oDMTE4dWdic2RvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNwb29yLXBlcmZvcm0-

Answer 1

It's just how the market works and it's not necessarily to sell the product again since it will last longer. Someone has to take the high quality and someone has to take the low quality cars, there is room for just 2. The japanese and the germany cars took the high quality and long lasting cars, the others on where american brands are included are the lower quality and build with cheap materials which also helps on making a good looking car but affordable. If the american cars try to improve their quality their price will be higher as well, which will be competent to the price of the japanese, since the names in the market have been already established, people wont buy american cars for the price of a japanese car since it will last longer, as a matter of fact american cars now must be lower in price, they have to be built with cheaper materials hence their quality wont be superior (sometimes they can be good quality cars, but the market is not just the quality itself, is the name and the brand people have in their minds and that is a difficult thing to change). To finaly answer your question, is just how the market is organized and works perfectly fine for their industries, this doesn't mean foreing companies make more than local companies, probably the one selling low quality cars has the market better organized and is more profitable, which is what really counts.

Answer 2

There are things you can do to prevent the driver from locking the key inside of the car. Most US car makers don't give a crap.

Just walk down the dealer and take a look at the hood gaps of new American cars. Seems like quality assurance don't care about the assembly quality.

Badly engineered parts. One time I had to and buy AC Delco fuel filter for my import (local store did not carry the OE fuel filter) it was not threaded properly so that the fuel filter was sitting in backward direction. I hate working on American cars because nothing really fits right. The aftermarket and OE quality parts are much worse that quality of imports.

American cheap cars are cheaply made. Take a look at Honda. Honda Civic is cheap, is also good. So the consumers grow out of compact size, they go buy Honda Accord. On other hand, people who buy GM Sunfire, end up never buying from another GM car.

Answer 3

Consumers once listed the 84 Olds Cutlass as the absolute worst used car value ever. According to them it was a total maintenance disaster and shouldn't be considered for purchase. I purchased one used with 54,000 miles on it and traded it in years later with over 300,000 miles on the odometer. During that time, other than normal, routine maintenance, the only thing I did was replaced the alternator and the AC Compressor. Just remember, Consumers is voicing an opinion, and a very wise man once said, "Opinions are like Aholes, everyone has one and they all stink". My kids like foreign iron, but then they change cars like they change clothes, frequently. Every American car I've ever owned, except one, I have driven for 10 years or more with minimal maintenance problems. When the American companies are all out of business and your kids are standing in a soup line maybe you'll wake up.

Answer 4

The American Car is a memory of the past , foreign powers have taken over the mfg. the parts come from all over the world , even though the American workers take pride in what they do management is pushing numbers instead of Quality .
I retired from Chrysler I hired in 1973 at an American auto factory and retired in 2003 from a German owned company and things changed for the worse morale and Quality drooped

Answer 5

Somehow, cars have different standing than cameras or DVD players. Of the big 3, GM, Ford and Chrysler. GM is probably the least incompetent. Ford had the Pinto, the Escort and the Taurus. I bought an '87 Escort in '96. It was less than 10 years old. When it had a mechanical problem, I couldn't find one mechanic who thought the cost of repairs was justified compared with the market value. At the time, the Escort was my NEW car. Here's my fleet. I own 5 cars which are driven by 4 drivers, myself, my wife, my son and my daughter. '86 Toyota MR2. Paid $550 6 years ago. 37mpg. Daily usage by my son. '88 BMW 735i. Bought on eBay for $2400 3 years ago. Nice car but not fuel efficient. I bought to replace my '82 BMW 733i which I bought for $600. '88 Volvo 240 wagon. My daughter drives it. Just passed test-only smog in California. She drives it daily. '91 Toyota Tercel. I just replaced the head gasket. It was worth fixing. '91 Honda Accord wagon. That's my daily driver. In the current condition it could easily run 3 to 5 more years. My yearly maintenance bill for 5 cars is less than $1000. Back to my tale of woe about American cars. A family friend bought a new Chrysler or Dodge minivan. The transmission failed. They were stranded on the side of the freeway. They now drive a Toyota minivan. Live and learn. - - - Subversive? For decades the only thing sustaining the democratic party was the labor unions, especially the autoworkers. Where do you think people like Bill Clinton get their votes?

Answer 6

do more research, chevy hasn't made the prizm in years and its a toyota anyway, the pontiac vibe also has toyota influence. the japanese cars are slipping in customer satisfaction, and the american cars are coming up, this must be an old study, some nissans and hondas are built in the USA, if you ask why do they "continue" to produce inferior products, that sounds like you're talking about current vehicles, go read the customer reviews in yahoo autos and you'll see that almost every chevy product has higher reviews than any honda

Answer 7

toyota and honda are the only cars left that are made in america the big 3 only assemble their cars here i used to work in a toyota plant in hebron Ky. check if you want american car guy american automakers are raping the industry and its mostly the benefit packeges the employees demand is the reason for the poor quality of the vehicles

Answer 8

What is an American Automobile Manufacturer? I didn't know there were any of them left. The Chrysler family is German. Mexico is part of North America though.

Answer 9

FIRST OFF WE DO MAKE VERY GOOD AUTOMOBILES AND AS FOR THE CONSUMERS REPORT, I HAVE READ THAT THEY RATE SOME OF THEIR VEHICLE BY HOW MUCH THAT PARTICULAR MANUFACTURER MAY BE PAYING THEM.

20 YEARS AGO I WOULD HAVE TRUSTED CONSUMERS REPORTS BUT NOT TODAY AND ITS THE SAME WITH A LOT OF THEIR RATINGS.

FOREIGN VEHICLE REPAIRS IN MY SHOP ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 40 PERCENT OF OUR BUSINESS AND FOR THE MOST PART THEY WILL COST MORE TO REPAIR AND THE PARTS ARE THREE TO ONE COMPARED TO THE AMERICAN VEHICLES.

MORE OF MY CUSTOMERS WILL DO THEIR REQUIRED SCHEDULE MAINTENANCE ON THEIR AMERICAN VEHICLES THAN THOSE WITH FOREIGN VEHICLES.

THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE LEFT OUT FOR US TO READ AND ITS A SHAME THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY.

I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN AND BUY AMERICAN NO MATTER PEOPLE SAY.

Answer 10

If car makers were to produce a good quality car, it would be so expensive no one could afford it, plus it would last a long time and all of that would cut into their profits>