Does it make sense to buy Detroit anymore?
Used to be anyone you talked to became offended or thought less of you if you bought a foreign car. That came from the World Wars era feelings and marketing. Still to this day, you can find a few here and there that still feel that way. But does it make any sense anymore?
Let’s face it. The big three automakers in the good ol’ U.S. of A. don’t perform the way they used to. How many miles a gallon does the most fuel efficient car that Ford produces get per gallon? I believe it’s in the 40’s. Toyota? 60+. Honda has been known as one of the most fuel efficient automakers for years even without hybrid technology.
Another point. Why haven’t the Detroit makers jumped whole-heartedly on the hybrid bandwagon? Why wouldn’t they? Could it be that they have no fear of failure? The last time any of them went bankrupt, the government bailed them out.
The fact of the matter is that “buying American” doesn’t mean what it used to. Fact is, most of the major foreign automakers have several manufacturing plants in the U.S. now. I no longer feel poorly if I don’t buy a Detroit Steel car. I just want the best one for my money.
Technorati Tags: detroit, ford, gm, toyota, honda, auto makers, buy us, buy american, automakers, detroit auto
Like this post? Subscribe by RSS
Or if you prefer, Subscribe by Email
Related Posts:
the Prince of Thrift said,
Wrote on June 16, 2006 @ 7:51 am
You ever hear the story of Dautson (did I spell that right)? Used to be Nison was sold in the USA, but then came WW 2. Nison, was a huge maker of the Japanese tanks. So we barred Nison’s from being sold in the USA after the war. What did Nison do? They created the Dautson Motor company to import into the USA. Finally in the 90’s the converted their name back to Nison.
Debt Free said,
Wrote on June 16, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
Who’s on First?
To make matters even more confusing you’ve got different components of autos made all over the globe. Check the content lables on new cars. And then there is the issue of the ownership of automobile manufacturers. Mazda, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, Land Rover are all or partly owned by Ford. Chrysler is owned by Diamler. Saab is GM. GM used to own a large chunk of Subaru’s parent company as well, but they just sold that to Toyota. GM used to own almost 1/2 of Isuzu as well, but they gradually rid themselves of that company. Bentley is owned by VW and Lamborghini is owned by Audi (wait, Audi is also a subsidiary of VW AG), while Rolls Royce, the picture of British luxury, is, in fact, owned by BMW.
Got that?