Made in the USA if possible and maintained locally. I buy older used stuff and pay to have it fixed here. That way I save resources (no new stuff) and the money goes to teh local economy/citizens. Just my way of looking at the issue ...
If made to choose...
- Thread starter wemay
- Start date
- Status
Foreign companies making their goods in the US. Better quality and lower failure rate in my experience. Even US made stuffs by US company will be made out of Chinese bits, so I no longer buy into made here with pride and blah blah...whatever.
Last edited:
The badge on the front is very important to me, I would only ever buy a GM or a Ford. Thankfully the older vehicles I usually purchase are made in the USA. My Suburban may or may not be made in Mexico, though, I'll have to check.
I had an Envoy for a while, ended up watching "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" a really emotional documentary about the Trailblazer/Envoy plant in Ohio. I highly recommend it.
I had an Envoy for a while, ended up watching "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" a really emotional documentary about the Trailblazer/Envoy plant in Ohio. I highly recommend it.
Made in the USA, for me, if possible. The side benefit is, at least with some items, that means they get here duty free. Of course, many products leave little to no choice in any direction, but that's a whole other matter.
3. Made in China for less than half the price.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 29,558
It honestly doesn't matter. We live in a gobal economy.
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
The real question should be, do you want us to become the next China, where all we do is make cheap stuff for others? If no, then look at addressing the bigger picture, not blaming people for their purchasing choices.
That is possibly the plan . Decades ago the John Birchers would say the one worlders want to lower the standard of the industrialized nations and turn them into third world level nations. I seems with the decades of off shoring and uncontrolled immigration of mostly the lowest qualified people possible the idea doesn't seem too far out of line.
The real question should be, do you want us to become the next China, where all we do is make cheap stuff for others? If no, then look at addressing the bigger picture, not blaming people for their purchasing choices.
That is possibly the plan . Decades ago the John Birchers would say the one worlders want to lower the standard of the industrialized nations and turn them into third world level nations. I seems with the decades of off shoring and uncontrolled immigration of mostly the lowest qualified people possible the idea doesn't seem too far out of line.
Made in USA 100%.
It doesn't matter which company it is, if they're on US Mainland, they'll just squirrel the money away in a tax haven anyway.
So give me something that an American got paid to assemble.
It doesn't matter which company it is, if they're on US Mainland, they'll just squirrel the money away in a tax haven anyway.
So give me something that an American got paid to assemble.
Last edited:
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Option C. I’d choose the highest quality for the best price.
I couldn’t care less where something is made.
I couldn’t care less where something is made.
We've had four built in Ohio Accords and Honda employs more Ohioans than any other auto maker.
Good enough for me.
I also grow a little tired of these uninformed posts about where the profits go.
The profits belong to the common shareholders and they are located worldwide.
WRT to white collar design, engineering and administrative jobs, those are distributed across the various national markets, particularly since each market has its own requirements in design and regulatory compliance.
Some of the best looking Asian cars have been designed in California, for example and even the sainted 240Z was penned by a German expat industrial designer living in America by the name of Albrecht Goertz.
Good enough for me.
I also grow a little tired of these uninformed posts about where the profits go.
The profits belong to the common shareholders and they are located worldwide.
WRT to white collar design, engineering and administrative jobs, those are distributed across the various national markets, particularly since each market has its own requirements in design and regulatory compliance.
Some of the best looking Asian cars have been designed in California, for example and even the sainted 240Z was penned by a German expat industrial designer living in America by the name of Albrecht Goertz.
A lot of simplistic answers to a very complicated question. You would need to evaluate on a car to car basis. Where is the engineering done? Where are the parts made and where is it assembled. Not a simple answer without some research. One final comment, the "profits" go to the shareholders and they can be anywhere in the world. I own Toyota Motor stock but live in the US. I spend my profits in the US.....
Last edited:
Neither. I choose each on a vehicle vs vehicle basis. Granted in recent years the differences are becoming fewer and fewer for the most popular vehicles.
But life is hardly ever simple.
How about if you had a chance to buy 1 of 1000 very good, very reasonably priced vehicles designed and made somewhere else in the world that were traded (straight across) for 1 airplane designed and built entirely in the USA? Would that vehicle be as attractive to you as a comparable vehicle designed and built entirely in the USA?
How about if the same 1000 vehicles were bought for $20,000,000 and then imported, and the same airplane was sold for $20,000,000 and then exported. Would having cash change hands in the middle of the deal change your views on how attractive those vehicles were?
How about if you had a chance to buy 1 of 1000 very good, very reasonably priced vehicles designed and made somewhere else in the world that were traded (straight across) for 1 airplane designed and built entirely in the USA? Would that vehicle be as attractive to you as a comparable vehicle designed and built entirely in the USA?
How about if the same 1000 vehicles were bought for $20,000,000 and then imported, and the same airplane was sold for $20,000,000 and then exported. Would having cash change hands in the middle of the deal change your views on how attractive those vehicles were?
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
I read a book that addressed this question. It said that #1 was USA company/USA made, #2 USA company/foreign made, #3 foreign company/USA made, #4 foreign owned/made. The reasoning for #2 & 3 was that corporate profits are more beneficial than USA made. In other words the money Honda pays in labor per car built here is less that the corporate profit that goes to Japan.
I prefer USA made/owned but it's hard to do and in some categories impossible. The Made in USA label is easy to find, the country of ownership harder. I buy parts at NAPA because it's an American company, even though the parts aren't usually.
I prefer USA made/owned but it's hard to do and in some categories impossible. The Made in USA label is easy to find, the country of ownership harder. I buy parts at NAPA because it's an American company, even though the parts aren't usually.
I buy the product that best fits my wants or needs. Some are American made, some aren't.
Originally Posted By: 02SE
I buy the product that best fits my wants or needs. Some are American made, some aren't.
Yes.
I buy the product that best fits my wants or needs. Some are American made, some aren't.
Yes.
I recently had to make that decision and it made me feel guilty. My Challenger was made in Canada (which I have absolutely no problem with because they are a good trading partner with similar economy, standards of living, etc.) but the engine, trans was made in Mexico. The Camaro and Mustang was made here but I can''t fit in the Camaro and I didn't like the visibility due to their decision to do that goofy chopped top look. The Mustang was OK but I use the car for trips and since I'm 6'6" I liked the Challenger better.
I will prefer not to buy Made in the USA cars. They seem to be shoddily put together even if it's a Mercedes, Honda or whatever. There is a big difference between cars made in Japan/Germany versus the same brands assembled in the US.
I am probably not answering exactly what the OP asked as I do not consider GM, Ford or Chrysler for purchase.
I am probably not answering exactly what the OP asked as I do not consider GM, Ford or Chrysler for purchase.
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
I read a book that addressed this question. It said that #1 was USA company/USA made, #2 USA company/foreign made, #3 foreign company/USA made, #4 foreign owned/made. The reasoning for #2 & 3 was that corporate profits are more beneficial than USA made. In other words the money Honda pays in labor per car built here is less that the corporate profit that goes to Japan.
I prefer USA made/owned but it's hard to do and in some categories impossible. The Made in USA label is easy to find, the country of ownership harder. I buy parts at NAPA because it's an American company, even though the parts aren't usually.
This seems accurate to me. I work in a engineering facility in the Detroit suburbs. I am regularly exposed to engineering business relationships. I work at a Japanese company that sells its products primarily to the big three. I have no statistics or factual arguments, because as mentioned here, the statistics are long and complicated and not readily available.
Take a single car for example. Every part has to be designed by an engineering team. The truth is, most of the OEM companies DO NOT design and engineer most parts aside from the drivetrain. Big name engineering suppliers compete with each other to build the cheapest, and best performing component for OEM business. OEMs plain and simple just can not afford to own all the resources required to develop and engineer every component of a car. There are several seatbelt companies that design, assemble, and sell the seat belt assemblies to the OEMs. The seatbelt companies can be American, Japanese, German, etc. And let’s be clear, most of the profits made on parts goes to the engineering companies, not the people who install the parts at an assembly line. There are exceptions, like welders, who make 6 figures, but even then it isn’t true that assembly line workers make more money cumulatively tive than the engineering companies.
OEM assembly line factories do employ more people (in terms of number of jobs) than engineering companies, but did you know that most engineering companies also employ their own factories? Take a Bosch ABS system. When Toyota enters a contract with Bosch to build and design an ABS system, Bosch will not send a bunch of parts to Toyota, requiring them to assemble it in a factory. No, Bosch has their own factories that assemble the module, and then ship that module to Toyota for installation at the factory. Car parts are highly Modularized today. So buying a foreign assembled car can actually support American blue collar workers if the engineering company has factories in the US.
So global economy has made the “Support American jobs vs Foriegn profits” hard to really know, but the general trend I have noticed agrees with the poster above. American badge/foreign made supports America better than Foreign badge/American Made. But the degree to how much that helps America as a whole is hard to do without studying an OEMs part suppliers. I can say this though, If everyone stopped buying American Badge, the region most heavily devastated in terms of job loss numbers would be Michigan and Ontario/Canada area. If everyone stopped buying Japanese, Japan would be most heavily devasted. But the trickle down effects would be worldwide. It’s all a spectrum.
The economy is too hard to sum up in buying a Ford supports Americans better than a Toyota. But the odds are stacked against you if you think buying a Toyota supports America better than a Ford, because Engineering/R&D companies are largely localized near the OEM headquarters. But even though buying a GM or Ford helps my company the most (which is Japanese), I would just tell people to buy the better product, be it a foreign make or domestic. Competition has helped the big 3 make much better cars than 20 years ago. And we still need competition to improve. But ultimately, buying a new car keeps the industry alive. So buy whatever you want. Buying new will keep the OEMs and their suppliers alive, while buying used will keep mechanics and aftermarket suppliers alive.
As for my preference, I go with Domestic badge/Foreign made. But of course American badge/American made is the best hands down for keeping profits in the states.
I read a book that addressed this question. It said that #1 was USA company/USA made, #2 USA company/foreign made, #3 foreign company/USA made, #4 foreign owned/made. The reasoning for #2 & 3 was that corporate profits are more beneficial than USA made. In other words the money Honda pays in labor per car built here is less that the corporate profit that goes to Japan.
I prefer USA made/owned but it's hard to do and in some categories impossible. The Made in USA label is easy to find, the country of ownership harder. I buy parts at NAPA because it's an American company, even though the parts aren't usually.
This seems accurate to me. I work in a engineering facility in the Detroit suburbs. I am regularly exposed to engineering business relationships. I work at a Japanese company that sells its products primarily to the big three. I have no statistics or factual arguments, because as mentioned here, the statistics are long and complicated and not readily available.
Take a single car for example. Every part has to be designed by an engineering team. The truth is, most of the OEM companies DO NOT design and engineer most parts aside from the drivetrain. Big name engineering suppliers compete with each other to build the cheapest, and best performing component for OEM business. OEMs plain and simple just can not afford to own all the resources required to develop and engineer every component of a car. There are several seatbelt companies that design, assemble, and sell the seat belt assemblies to the OEMs. The seatbelt companies can be American, Japanese, German, etc. And let’s be clear, most of the profits made on parts goes to the engineering companies, not the people who install the parts at an assembly line. There are exceptions, like welders, who make 6 figures, but even then it isn’t true that assembly line workers make more money cumulatively tive than the engineering companies.
OEM assembly line factories do employ more people (in terms of number of jobs) than engineering companies, but did you know that most engineering companies also employ their own factories? Take a Bosch ABS system. When Toyota enters a contract with Bosch to build and design an ABS system, Bosch will not send a bunch of parts to Toyota, requiring them to assemble it in a factory. No, Bosch has their own factories that assemble the module, and then ship that module to Toyota for installation at the factory. Car parts are highly Modularized today. So buying a foreign assembled car can actually support American blue collar workers if the engineering company has factories in the US.
So global economy has made the “Support American jobs vs Foriegn profits” hard to really know, but the general trend I have noticed agrees with the poster above. American badge/foreign made supports America better than Foreign badge/American Made. But the degree to how much that helps America as a whole is hard to do without studying an OEMs part suppliers. I can say this though, If everyone stopped buying American Badge, the region most heavily devastated in terms of job loss numbers would be Michigan and Ontario/Canada area. If everyone stopped buying Japanese, Japan would be most heavily devasted. But the trickle down effects would be worldwide. It’s all a spectrum.
The economy is too hard to sum up in buying a Ford supports Americans better than a Toyota. But the odds are stacked against you if you think buying a Toyota supports America better than a Ford, because Engineering/R&D companies are largely localized near the OEM headquarters. But even though buying a GM or Ford helps my company the most (which is Japanese), I would just tell people to buy the better product, be it a foreign make or domestic. Competition has helped the big 3 make much better cars than 20 years ago. And we still need competition to improve. But ultimately, buying a new car keeps the industry alive. So buy whatever you want. Buying new will keep the OEMs and their suppliers alive, while buying used will keep mechanics and aftermarket suppliers alive.
As for my preference, I go with Domestic badge/Foreign made. But of course American badge/American made is the best hands down for keeping profits in the states.
Last edited:
- Status
Similar threads
