In reply to Datsun310Guy:
Yeah, and none of the profits were used to build the facilities in this country because they were free.
In reply to Datsun310Guy:
Yeah, and none of the profits were used to build the facilities in this country because they were free.
Hey, those GM tranmissions are from Brazil. That means they have zika and poop.
The manual tranny in my Accord states Philippines as country of origin on my window sticker. Can't we make 5-speeds any more?
Sadly, the truck is Canadian. And we all know how I feel about Canadians. So I no longer have any "american" vehicles. At least not since the C4 and does Kentucky even count as America?
My first is almost 100% American, probably. 1972 El Camino.
My second car is maybe 1% American. 2008 Saturn Astra. A re-badged Opel, made in Belgium, engineered in Germany. The 1% comes in the form of an afterthought cupholder behind your elbow that you can't even reach.
My third car is so got-dang American, that not even the CEO of GM at the time wanted it to be made in the first place, because of how antiquated the platform was. But I'm sure glad they did. 1995 B-body wagon. Made in Arlington TX, engineered in 1973 (just kidding) (but actually).
I don't know where I was going with this, but I find it interesting that I ended up with only GM cars despite my complete lack of loyalty to any brand.
Even the iPhone thing is more convoluted than it seems. It may be assembled in China so people like to call it a Chinese made device, but people ignore the fact that not only was it designed here in the USA but many of the components in it are built here in the USA and shipped to china where they are assembled into the phone and shipped back here.
Note I keep saying USA rather than 'American' as the various other countries on the continent of North and or South America are also part of 'America' and get, rightly so, a bit pissed off when we consider ourselves America at the exclusion of them. Hell, there are even people who argue that North and South America are in fact a single continent.
The global economy has made it almost impossible to consider most consumer products as being from or products of a single country. There are dozens of ‘American’ comp[anise who are now incorporating overseas to dodge tax and there are Billions or Trillions of $$’s being held overseas by major ‘American’ companies.
Japanese? Let's not forget Pearl Harbor.....
I am reasonably sure there are no cars that have achieved US citizenship, or that hold a valid US passport, or a green card.
How do you define "American"?
Maybe the cars are actually quite offended to be artificially judged and labeled.
Robbie wrote: Maybe the cars are actually quite offended to be artificially judged and labeled.
I can tell you Korean cars don't care. That or they don't understand english. Some of the nasty things I've called them/said to them over the years... if they understood or had feelings would have steered me straight at a lightpole a dozen times over.
I had a laugh today working on a truck with a bunch of American flags, buy American, nationalism/jingoism etc.
Engine by Isuzu. Engine controls by Bosch. I didn't look at the VIN, but I wouldn't doubt the truck was made in Canada, too...
alfadriver wrote: It's convoluted, but it's also pretty safe to think that *MOST* of the non-manufacturing staff are in the home country.
The interesting thing is that the North American market is so unique relative to ROW that our "imports" are usually North American specific. So the American division of whatever company is more likely than not an automaker in its own right.
I've heard it pointed out that Honda of America is Japanese only in name.
(An aside: Part of what traditionally made VW so "fun" to source parts for is that they would often source components locally. So a Pennsylvania Golf would be vastly different in many ways from a Wolfsburg Golf.)
It took owning a lot of E36 M3ty american cars, followed by owning a lot of fantastic japanese cars, followed by buying a brand new japanese car that turned out to be a piece of E36 M3 with zero customer support, followed by owning a berkeleying brilliant GM product to realize thre idea of brand/country of origin loyalty are pretty silly. Proof is in the puddin.
That's all I have to add.
Bobzilla wrote: Sadly, the truck is Canadian. And we all know how I feel about Canadians. So I no longer have any "american" vehicles. At least not since the C4 and does Kentucky even count as America?
Kentucky is in 'Murica, a totally different country.
So what are the cars we GRMers build???
As for mine... it began as a Toyota... and back then it was built and imported from Japan... but is it still??? as many of the original specifications are different... and although many of the parts are still Japanese in origin... does my "redesign" and "assembly" here mean it is now an American built car???
Datsun310Guy wrote: The manual tranny in my Accord states Philippines as country of origin on my window sticker. Can't we make 5-speeds any more?
I saw that on my 2009's window sticker also! I think is because only about 6 of us bought those in any given year in the US, it didn't make sense to setup manufacturing of that gearbox here.
The 1991-2002 S series Saturns were over 95% USA parts and labor. Probably one of the last to be that way.
In reply to Gearheadotaku:
And from what I remember, the other 5% was German gears in the transmissions and just about all of the fasteners were Canadian.
Knurled wrote: I had a laugh today working on a truck with a bunch of American flags, buy American, nationalism/jingoism etc. Engine by Isuzu. Engine controls by Bosch. I didn't look at the VIN, but I wouldn't doubt the truck was made in Canada, too...
The American flags were probably made in China or Taiwan.
Nowadays, no such thing as an all American made automobile. The closest thing is a foreign car assembled in America now.
To get American now you have to buy foreign. 
When shopping for a tow vehicle a couple years ago, the fact that mid-00s 4Runners were built in Japan was a big positive for me. I've seen consistently better build quality on cars built there vs. USA/Mexico/Canada.
wlkelley3 wrote: Nowadays, no such thing as an all American made automobile. The closest thing is a foreign car assembled in America now. To get American now you have to buy foreign.
There hasn't been in a very long time. My 65 Mustang is not 100% American.
bravenrace wrote:wlkelley3 wrote: Nowadays, no such thing as an all American made automobile. The closest thing is a foreign car assembled in America now. To get American now you have to buy foreign.There hasn't been in a very long time. My 65 Mustang is not 100% American.
BLASPHEMY! Everyone knows that 60's Mustangs were birthed from the hips of Henry himself and made with guts, glory and hard work.
So glad I'm Canadian and don't need to worry about this kind of stupidity.
Just buy what can do the job you need it to for the best price.
And Bobzilla, I'll give you a great big hug and a hearty "F-you too" if I ever get to meet you. Not all Canadians are jerks.
Other than my previous statement about buying used, the "Buy American" thing when it comes to cars puzzled me. If I'm going to buy a NEW car, I'm going to buy one based on reliability, longevity, and performance. I don't care if the thing was built in Satan's butthole as long as the thing starts every day and gets me to where I need to go without too much incident. I'm not going to reward a car company for making bad business decisions or continuing to churn out crap box cars with known flaws just because of where it's built.
When I bought my Mazda 3 NEW back in 2011, they were still under the Ford umbrella. Ford had been making some strides toward reliability at that time, and seeing that the bones of the 3 were in service across the globe with a good level of reliability, I didn't feel like it was too much of a gamble to buy one. My car was manufactured in Japan, but has more than a few US-sourced, designed, and manufactured parts bolted to it. The suspension, brakes, engine (MZR shared with many Ford products), engine mounts, and more were either designed here or even made here and shipped there. The car has been great, and is coming up on it's 5-year anniversary as my DD.
Like it or not, we live in a world with a global economy. Everything is built everywhere by everybody.
Trans_Maro wrote: So glad I'm Canadian and don't need to worry about this kind of stupidity. Just buy what can do the job you need it to for the best price. And Bobzilla, I'll give you a great big hug and a hearty "F-you too" if I ever get to meet you. Not all Canadians are jerks.
And a hearty high "F-you" too! 
Also the same here. Buy what fits our needs the best at the best price and move on. I have bought Korean for the last 10 years, but that's because they fit our needs, budget and reliability best. I still look at everything (except toyota. Screw those guys. They still owe me a comfy pair of sneakers) as long as it's not a ridgeline. 
You'll need to log in to post.
