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) |
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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.
What I really want is a nice station wagon built on an fun to drive platform. I am single, but I lead an active life and like having a nice space to carry passengers, and the ability to carry larger objects when necessary. Sports coupes are nice, but most just don’t fit me well - I’m 6’3” tall - the Nissan 350Z, for example. Still, sometimes I think I should just say “screw it” to practicality and get something really cool. Powerful rear wheel drive sports car aren’t real good in the snow, though, so I don’t know if I’d want to go that way. Also, I ride a sporty motorcycle so I get my speed thrills that way.
A Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon might work. It’s a wagon, it’s got some power, and the AWD rocks for snowy weather. It’s not all that big, however.
How about Schwinn? :-)) 
I fail to see what is wrong with HONDAS holding their value. I am glad our Oddessey van will not depreciate as quickly as a Town & Country.
Also, a new Corvette today costs between $55k and $90k.
They 1995+ NSX models hold their value because they were basically a street legal mid engine aluminum frame lemans style race car. OR an Japenese Ferrari.
Now what rules are you talking about? We passed labeling laws about 5 years ago for food. So far as I know we haven’t implemented that law yet.
Anything goes for “free traders”. Ain’t NAFTA just great?
Was replying to a nut job that posted that, told him to prove it!
The Japanese built the manufacturing plants in the US due to that dirty word “tariffs”. It was much cheaper to build a plant here than pay tariffs on each imported car.
Good ol protectionism has all our state governors taking trips to Asia begging for plants. What a mess.
He could prove that we passed a labeling law and also that it isn’t enforced.
The free traders can’t handle China.
u b series?
If you plan to insult me, you pussy, please let me know. Only idiots make unsupportable assertions and then demand they be proven wrong. Imbecile.
You're not too bright, either. Please explain why I need to prove his argument?
You don’t. You won’t. Get over yourself.
China! Boo! (Dim-witted protectionist fails to understand, yet again, why he can’t tar everyone with whom he disagrees with that brush).
This protectionist only tars those free traders who try deny their love of the unAmerican tribunals. You like those closed door tribUUUUUUnals, don’t ya?
Oh, but you love to shout “protectionist”. Then when I agree that I am a protectionist and proud to be one, it blows you away. The oposite of a protectionist is someone who supports free trade and tribuUUUUUUUUUals.
That is your problem not mine. Why don’t you admit you like closed door, unAmerican tribunals?
Alternatively, I just pretend I'm arguing with a Democrat. Which do you think is closer to the truth?
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