Just how do you BUY AMERICAN?

[Heywood Jannockitov]

we got too many car makers in this country now, some need to be weeded out.

What... 3 is too many?!

Japan, with a population of 127 million has, let's see:

Toyota
Honda
Mazda
Nissan
Suzuki
Subaru
Isuzu
Mitsubishi
Daihatsu

9 off the top of my head, most of which make nothing that appeals to me.

 

[J_J]

I dare say that we make most of our weapons, and for good reasons. How would you feel if they were made overseas, and they, the other country decided they did not like you anymore. Seems like people buy what they want. Sure, we would all like to buy American, but try and find American made toys for your kids. We can claim most of our fresh food products are American.

 

[SnowRidge]

Brands built in the US.

Chrysler

1. Dodge
2. Chrysler
3. Jeep

GM

1. Chevrolet
2. Buick
3. Cadillac
4. Pontiac
5. GMC
6. Saturn

Ford

1. Ford
2. Mercury

Toyota
Honda
Nissan
BMW
Mazda
Hyundai
VW (planned)
Fiat (planned

Now, who did I miss?

 

[IslandTractor]

Brands built in the US.


....
Now, who did I miss?

Mercedes (Alabama)

 

[horse7]

I just wanted to give Cat Driver something else to think about. Perhaps one reason the Chinese are so willing to take on a new invention is so they can get the design info. Then they can start copying it and put it on the market cheaper than the patent holder since the Chinese dont recognize US patent laws, they can flood the market with your product in the coming months. Better enjoy your profits while you can.

Some years ago I read that Indian companies which offshore to China (because China is cheaper) are very very careful to ensure that the Chinese don't get enough design information for the piece they are doing to steal the design.

After all, the reason for offshoring is to save money, so obviously the offshore company can sell the product for less since they don't have to pay someone else's overhead and profit, only their own.

 

[SnowRidge]

Some years ago I read that Indian companies which offshore to China (because China is cheaper) are very very careful to ensure that the Chinese don't get enough design information for the piece they are doing to steal the design.

The Indians are still building stuff designed by the Brits ages ago. I don't think they have to worry about the Chinese stealing their designs.

 

[PILOON]

So I pick up my new GMC truck "Made in Oshawa". Despite that plant being rated #1 in productivity for NA it is being closed and production moved to the US.

Wife wants a new Malibu. So we trot off to the local GM store and buy one - OOppps - Made in Mexico.

Want a FEL for my JD tractor - OOpps closed the Welland plant and moved production back to US.

What if I needed a new Navistar truck - like the Canadian military $254 Million order. OOpps closed the Chatam plant and moved production to Texas.

Oh well. Let's upgrade the kitchen with new cupboards. OOpps - Canac closed the plant and moved production back to the US.

What if next time I really want to buy a Canadian made car - well may Toyota made in Kitchener / Woodstock, maybe Honda made in Alliston, maybe Suzuki made in Ingersoll.

You think it's tough to buy American - try finding anything other than firewood that is Made in Canada anymore. Canada is losing manufacturing jobs at an astounding rate and they are not all going to China or Japan.

Some of the companies must be feeling a backlash. I see a lot of the lables now just say "Imported by...." and do not give the country of origin.

The scary thing is Canada wants to bail out the car makers, why? to help them move back to the US?

 

[greenmule]

So canada is going to bail them out too? How many times do they need to be bailed out anyways?

 

[George2615]

This is an example of "be careful what you wish for". Some areas of the country are bemoaning the loss of gasoline tax revenue as people drive less, and drive more fuel efficient cars.

Pundits say Americans don't save[1] enough, but what if they 'saved' more? The fear is that the economy would collapse from a lack of consumer sales... oh wait, we are seeing something like that now as people and companies hoard their cash....

[1]what exactly is the definition of "saving". Interestingly enough, it does not include capital gains, or (usually) 401Ks, or equities (stocks and bonds), or not having a mortgage on your house so there is home equity. Usually, savings is just what you stuff in a bank. However, keeping all your wealth in a bank is a poor investment strategy overall, thus Americans don't do it-- which makes American "savings" look bad (it is also made to look worse by not removing retirees from the population of savers-- retirees are generally spending the money they saved! This is a major reason WHY people save assets after all, to spend during retirement! It boggles the mind how poorly understood this is.)

All too true.
Someone else stated the problem is greed. 40 years ago I was perfectly content being a single wage earner feeding a family of 4. We got by just fine. Today the kids are grown and gone and the wife and I both work as do a lot of families today just to make ends meet. Saving is tough for middle class and non existent for lower class. Middle and lower class wages have not kept up with inflation. Where I have been employed the past 24 years we generally get a 3% wage increase per year. (non union with over 3000 employees) But our company CEO got a 26% increase in just one year. Yet we, the 3000 have been continually told we have to tighten our belts to cut spending, submit cost saving ideas, which we did and have saved the company a lot of money. Plus the company has cut our benefits over the past several years and talked of lay offs. With every benefit or dollar taken away from me my hope of retirement date gets further away. Now we know where it went.

The higher ups in the company have continually pulled away from working class in wages. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Where I work is not the only company I see this going on. I read about it every day in the paper when I see another company that must close or move out of state or country to make more money which puts more of us out of work. In my area there are no good paying jobs for a college grad.

So how do the lower and middle class buy American when we can't afford American or America doesn't make it. One example is the lower, middle, and upper class all need vehicles to get to work but lower class and even some middle class can't afford a $25-30K American car that gets only 20 MPG, if that, so they buy a cheap used foreign car that gets over 30 MPG. The extra $20 dollars a week they save on gas helps put more food on the table. I can't blame them buying foreign. I feel sorry for my grandkids and what they will have to go through.

 

[scott_vt]

But our company CEO got a 26% increase in just one year. Yet we, the 3000 have been continually told we have to tighten our belts to cut spending, submit cost saving ideas, which we did and have saved the company a lot of money. Plus the company has cut our benefits over the past several years and talked of lay offs. With every benefit or dollar taken away from me my hope of retirement date gets further away. Now we know where it went.

The higher ups in the company have continually pulled away from working class in wages. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Where I work is not the only company I see this going on. I read about it every day in the paper when I see another company that must close or move out of state or country to make more money which puts more of us out of work. In my area there are no good paying jobs for a college grad.

So how do the lower and middle class buy American when we can't afford American or America doesn't make it. One example is the lower, middle, and upper class all need vehicles to get to work but lower class and even some middle class can't afford a $25-30K American car that gets only 20 MPG, if that, so they buy a cheap used foreign car that gets over 30 MPG. The extra $20 dollars a week they save on gas helps put more food on the table. I can't blame them buying foreign. I feel sorry for my grandkids and what they will have to go through.

Good Evenin George,
No truer words were ever spoken !

Before I got layed off from Pitney Bowes, the management asked us to do the same thing ! Come up with some really good ideas so you can save the company money, and in actuality put more money in the pockets of the upper management !

Years ago it was supposed to be the job of upper management to guide the company and come up with all these ideas themselves !

Im with you George, I fear for our grand children if this is what the future holds !