Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I don't care where a car is assembled. Heck, my 1966 Dodge was built at the old Windsor ON plant, not inside the US proper. I just don't want my $$ ultimately going to Japan or Korea rather than US companies. Mazda would be a partial exception since its largely Ford-owned anyway, so the Fusion gets a partial pass from me. And its a *nice* driving car.
I agree completely. In the end, Ford (and GM and Chrysler) is a company that does far more for the U.S. economy than any of the import brands. Ford does the bulk of their R&D for GLOBAL products here in the US, the imports only develop a model here and there in the US, usually models that are US specific. The domestics still have several times the amount of domestic assembly plants. Several times the US white collar work force. Several times the US blue collar work force. Despite what some think, the location of the company's headquarters still matters, it determines where the big bucks are going. And while there are Toyota and Honda plants in the US which support the US economy, they were given hundreds of millions dollars of US taxpayer money to lure them (subsidies) in the first place.
Point of final assembly is just one part of the equation. People have become too myopic in their view of these things, IMO.