Posted on 12/14/2007 9:53:02 AM PST by Incorrigible
 Honda may be a Japanese brand, but it makes cars in Ohio, where it employs more than 15,000 workers, including Lori Dennis. She believes her job in Marysville is as American as those who work for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. (Photo by Thomas Ondrey) |
|
Buy American doesn't mean what it once did. Not in the auto industry.
Honda's best sellers come from plants in Ohio while Ford imports cars from Mexico. Toyota opened a plant in Texas this year while Chrysler brought in cars from Europe.
And vehicles assembled in the United States are made with a growing number of foreign parts.
"Ten years ago, it was a much more regional business," said Dave Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research.
Parts suppliers once clustered around U.S. plants making General Motors, Ford and Chrysler vehicles. Now, Detroit's Big Three comb the globe for high-quality parts at the cheapest price.
For buyers, these changes have blurred the emotional, decades-old conflict between domestic and foreign cars.
Which is which these days? How can a Honda made in America, by Americans, be foreign? How can a Chevrolet with a large share of foreign parts be American? The questions will only grow more difficult as automakers grow more global. And as more young people, lacking the us-versus-them allegiance, become car buyers.
The trend seems unlikely to retreat.
The Big Three still have more domestic content — defined as made in the United States or Canada — on average than their foreign-owned competitors. But the gap has closed considerably since Honda quietly opened the first Japanese vehicle plant in the United States in Marysville, Ohio, some 25 years ago.
Honda and Toyota still get a substantial volume of components from Japan, although those numbers are shrinking. Meanwhile, imports from Mexico, largely to the Big Three, are rising.
Chinese imports also are increasing, but those generally go to parts stores and repair shops. That's starting to change as General Motors and others use those parts in new cars and trucks.
Two-thirds of the value of a car lay in parts produced by independent suppliers, said Jim Rubenstein, a Miami University professor who has co-authored a soon-to-be-released book called "Who Really Made Your Car?"
"In other words, there really isn't that much Toyota or that much Ford in your car," he said.
That percentage has increased over the years as producers have looked to outsource as much production as possible to lower costs.
The trend has both helped and hurt domestic auto production.
Visteon, Ford's former parts division, and Delphi, GM's former parts division, have both found new work making parts for Honda, Toyota and Nissan plants in the United States. But much of the work those companies used to do for Ford and GM has gone overseas.
For all of the Asian-Pacific countries combined, imports of auto parts to the United States totaled $16.1 billion in the first half of 2007, up 4.2 percent over the same period last year. Mexico's jumped 6.4 percent to $14.4 billion.
Still, groups such as the United Auto Workers would like to see Americans avoid cars from those companies. It releases a list each year of vehicles it recommends from union-staffed plants in Canada and Mexico. That list includes two Toyotas built at a GM/Toyota joint venture in California and eliminates imported Ford, GM and Chrysler vehicles.
Toyota countered in 2005 and last year with a series of commercials that advertised its investments in U.S. plants, research centers and sales offices.
For all but the staunchest of "Buy American" advocates, the level of foreign-made parts in a vehicle is largely unimportant. Most Americans don't care about domestic content or whether a car was assembled at a union plant or a nonunion plant, said Rubenstein, the Miami University professor.
They are partial to certain brands, however. The most loyal American buyers drive Ford and Chevrolet pickups, Rubenstein said, but when it comes to cars, the Japanese brands have the edge.
That said, the buying habits of American consumers do transcend their own personal enjoyment.
While the Japanese do more than just make cars in the United States, evidenced by the 1,000 engineers working for Honda of America near Marysville, a purchase from one of the Big Three means that all the profits go to an American company. It also lends support to a greater number of U.S. workers producing parts.
The Level Field Institute, an organization formed by former UAW members, publishes reports on employment levels by foreign-owned automakers. The institute encourages buyers to consider the domestic content even when deciding between a Honda and a Volkswagen.
Honda makes cars in Ohio and Alabama out of parts produced in this country. VW imports all of its cars.
"Buying a Honda supports nearly 2.4 more U.S. jobs per car than a VW," the institute says on its Web site.
Rubenstein would take the argument further.
"Buying a car made by Ford, GM or Chrysler, on balance, is putting more money into the American economy than buying a Toyota or Honda," Rubenstein said.
(Peter Krouse and Robert Schoenberger are reporters for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. They can be contacted at pkrouse(at)plaind.com and rschoenb(at)plaind.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Ok - I gotta ask - what about Subaru’s turned you off?
I love both of ours! Economical, well built, low maintenance, AWD (need in NYS), fast and fun IMO. The interiors are cheap in many but that’s not much of a factor to me.
No longer? This has been the trend for 20 years or more.
FWIW, About 4 years ago I bought two Hondas, one was made in Ohio and one in Alabama, both had mostly U.S. made parts.
I still have my heart set on a Veyron. :-)
What an idiotic title!
It hasn’t been black-and-white for at least ten years.
Does it have a diesel?
overseas market does. yeah greenies, you want us to use biodiesel but you guys have relagated diesel in big trucks only. Btw I probably wouldnt get a diesel I hear those are not part of the lifetime drivetrain warranty...thats the big seller for me
I rented a caliber for week they are escentially the same car. I had no problems with it at all, I did test drive a Patriot recently, I liked it alot, the quality of the interior is the only sour point. The dash appears to be the same type of plastic that is on my 2001 Ram's dash, it is busted all to hell right now.
It just could be that they want to have a few people left in this country that earn enough money to buy their products. There's a fine line here, and they may have already crossed it.
PS: If you're not done daydreaming yet you can always choose your Veyron colour combination here on the configurator, which is a lot of fun. :-)
http://www.bugatti-configurator.com/
Was suppose to be available this year in Us, that's why I ask, don't worry about warranty!
Yeah, I’ve heard of the NSX. I’ve also seen that a 1992 model costs around $30,000. Thanks, but I’ll take a newer Corvette for less money that also has more horsepower than the NSX. Acura is a Honda company...remember what I was saying about Hondas having outrageous resale prices?
Poor engineering in the Legacy was the reason. Before that my wife and I had 8 Subarus. Only thing that had a 4-wheel drive which we needed for our driveway in winter.
Last Legacy the cup holders were in front of the air conditioning vents so my hot coffee got cool really quick. Also could not see the clock/radio display if you had anything in the cup holders. Hit a bump and it spilled Coke (liquid variety) into the dash and it gummed up the heating/AC vents. Big bucks, $800, to fix or have the vents work either in the dash or on the floor as they would not move. Light went out in the radio/clock display. No replacement lamp option, just a big bill, $650, to replace the entire radio/clock.
I’m sad to say (as someone who has owned several fine Nissan proucts in the past), but many Nissan models from the last 10-15 years have pretty awful reliability records. They’ve had some serious engine problems with their 2.5 litre 4 banger (bad head gaskets, pre-cats breaking down and showering metallic bits back into the engine through the EGR system), and also some with their V-8 models. No major tranny issues that I’m aware of (unlike Honda, Ford, GM, Chrysler), but a number of other quality and reliability issues. My ‘96 Sentra was pretty good except for eating an alternator every 60k miles or so, and some corrosion issues. Overall Nissan’s quality and reliability just isn’t in Honda and Toyota’s class.
OTOH, as you say, they actually make some interesting vehicles. Honda’s and Toyota’s cars are dead boring these days, with a few exceptions like the new Accord coupe. Still, boring is not such a bad thing for a daily driver - as long as it’s comfy, reliable, and drives well (my Accord has a good balance between ride and handling, IMO) that’s all I really need.
“Speak for yourself.”
Different priorities, I guess. In any case, I’m not willing to give up too much quality or reliability to get into something more interesting. I’ve actually considered buying a V6 Altima coupe with the 6-speed manual recently, but I’m still paying for my current car and it still works well, so the heck with taking the depreciation hit on another new car.
My ‘96 Sentra, btw, is not in my possession anymore, but I did sell it to a guy I work with. It has over 200,000 miles on it and still works really well, although it is starting to rust out (southern Ontario winter road salt mostly to blame, I imagine). AFAIK, that car is still even running on its original battery, despite it having been drained dead a couple of times.
Thank you!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
