[Citizen Tom Paine]

Help me out for a minute. How can Chrysler be one of the American big 3, when it is owned by Mercedes? How can the Chrysler 300 be classified as an American car when it is built in Windsor, Canada?How can my Honda be a foreign car when it is wholly built in Merrisville, Ohio in the United States.

Inquiring minds would like to know.

[Dasaji]

How can the Chrysler 300 be classified as an American car when it is built in Windsor, Canada?How can my Honda be a foreign car when it is wholly built in Merrisville, Ohio in the United States.

Very good question...goes back to where the main all-powerful corporate offices are located and where the masterminding comes from.

I own a used car dealership and I love to argue (in a debate sort of way) when customers come in and insist on buying "American" (or "Foreign" for that matter) that globalization of economies has seriously blurred the lines between what is and what is not a domestic vehicle.

When you factor in steel from Japan or Mexico, textiles from Asia or South America, assembly in the US, Canada or Mexico, and over 5000 moving parts that come from every corner of the globe, you're not *just* buying what you think you are buying.

[1rudeboy]

Here is a good and related thread.

Defining an American Car.

[xp38]

The Chrysler 300 is built in Brampton Ontario Canada. Vroom Vroom.

[SunkenCiv]

Quite right, the line between what's made where is not easy to draw. Chrysler (sorry, Daimler-Chrysler) has made cars in Canada and Mexico, as well as the US, for many years. Ford, GM, and Chrysler (D-C) have imported cars OEMed for them by others, from Korea, European countries...

The newer big Chryslers are butt-ugly IMHO, look like something from a Third Reich comic strip. Even this one has a kind of ugly vibe. Buuut, I could see myself driving one, provided it has an alarm system. ;')