Top Ten American Made 2012

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Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Toyota and Honda can pay as little as 1/3 what UAW suppliers historically got, (yes there are as low as ~$8/hr no benefits contract workers). They don't need to go to Mexico for low labor costs. Domestic parts content is still a good thing if not the whole story and for the other reasons mentioned. Even domestics are becoming more global and no one is trying to do America any favors really.


Toyota and Honda workers here make well over $20/hr with decent benefits and excellent profit sharing programs.



But as I've explained before the $20/hr transplant factory jobs (still slightly lower than UAW) here are only for some regular employees at uswually the final assembly plants and at about max pay and are kind of rare. Many of the workers, at the assembly and its suppliers, are not regular but much lower paid temproary and term employees. I can only say the differences in pay structure here and not what is happening there, or what the media puts up as poster child workers. It's doubtful there'd be even some of the $20/hr jobs if the UAW hadn't set the bar higher. An interesting point is some of these foreign automakers have unionized workers in their home country that have it better than even the UAW.
 
Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
That aside, foreign manufacturers support communities they are in and provide good wages and help the local economies.


Of course, they do this out of the 'kindness of their hearts', due to a great love and respect for North American workers, with NO benefits, increased profits, PR publicity, tax breaks/incentives at all,correct??
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(And please DO NOT give me the "American auto industry KILLED the Canuck industry at the turn of the century" spiel either, as I am SICK of hearing about it! This IS NOW we are talking about.
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Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
That aside, foreign manufacturers support communities they are in and provide good wages and help the local economies.


Of course, they do this out of the 'kindness of their hearts', due to a great love and respect for North American workers, with NO benefits, increased profits, PR publicity, tax breaks/incentives at all,correct??
smirk.gif
crackmeup2.gif


(And please DO NOT give me the "American auto industry KILLED the Canuck industry at the turn of the century" spiel either, as I am SICK of hearing about it! This IS NOW we are talking about.
wink.gif
)


I would expect that type of an answer from you.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx

The general trend is even with foreign transplants vs Domestic is pay has been reduced and less US R&D, less US ownership (money going outside the US) etc. Point of final assembly and N. American parts content only tell a small part of the picture and make Japanese brands look better or equivalent to Domestics than they really are. And multiplying that by the number sold is an even more baised metric. A Ford or Chevy with even less domestic parts content could very well create more jobs and revenue in the US. Not to mention a car like the Malibu has equal or higher domestic content.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Toyota and Honda can pay as little as 1/3 what UAW suppliers historically got, (yes there are as low as ~$8/hr no benefits contract workers). They don't need to go to Mex
u
Toyota and Honda workers here make well over $20/hr with decent benefits and excellent profit sharing programs.


That's so they can pay $5.00 of that for the health care and don't forget the almost 12% sales tax. I'm sure the Canadian government is coughing up some nice tax advantages to get them to build there or else it would not have been cost efficient. At least the GM and Ford employees got benefits and pensions.
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: Autobahn88
That aside, foreign manufacturers support communities they are in and provide good wages and help the local economies.


Of course, they do this out of the 'kindness of their hearts', due to a great love and respect for North American workers, with NO benefits, increased profits, PR publicity, tax breaks/incentives at all,correct??
smirk.gif
crackmeup2.gif


(And please DO NOT give me the "American auto industry KILLED the Canuck industry at the turn of the century" spiel either, as I am SICK of hearing about it! This IS NOW we are talking about.
wink.gif
)


Me, too.

Note that every one of the foreign makes were LURED to their locations by huge incentives. And we're talking HUGE!

They are in it for the money, nothing more.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
They are in it for the money, nothing more.


To be fair, the only reason that any for-profit company is in business is for money. All majors who operate in the United States now have assembly plants constructed by way of large tax incentives.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
They are in it for the money, nothing more.


To be fair, the only reason that any for-profit company is in business is for money. All majors who operate in the United States now have assembly plants constructed by way of large tax incentives.


So lets support the ones whose corporate headquarters and many support services and staffs are in the USA. That adds more to the economy and tax base.
 
Originally Posted By: johnachak
So lets support the ones whose corporate headquarters and many support services and staffs are in the USA. That adds more to the economy and tax base.


Some of the best domestic-branded vehicles these days are actually "world cars", like the Cruze, like the Focus and Fiesta, like the new Impala, etc. Auto maker execs proclaim proudly that the cars are co-developed with global offices. From wikipedia on the Cruze:

Quote:
Underpinned by the front-wheel drive GM Delta II platform, GM has confirmed the Cruze development program occurred under a global design and engineering team. The Company said GM Daewoo in South Korea played a leading role in the design and engineering of the Cruze, along with GM's German-based Opel division. This development program spanned over 27 months at a cost of US$4 billion. A total of 221 prototypes were tested in Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.


The argument used to be made that by buying a domestic-branded vehicle, you support engineering and R&D staff in the United States, but this really isn't true anymore, at least for some models. Buying a GM has supported global product development, just as buying a Ford has, just as buying a Chrysler/Fiat has, just as buying a Honda or Toyota has.

And I'm not knocking the Cruze at all; to the contrary, I think it's great. As I noted above, some of the best-looking and best-performing domestic-branded vehicles now are based on world platforms. We're getting better products in the United States BECAUSE these companies are operating on a global scale, and BECAUSE dollars spent in these companies' showrooms are invested in global facilities. If we get the Cruze 5-door here, we're getting a product that was designed by GM's Holden division in Australia. What about the Cruze diesel? GM is investing over 26 million dollars into its Torino facility in Italy for diesel powertrain development. If they sell the Cruze diesel here in a few years, it will truly be a globally-developed vehicle.

By the way, I've owned WAY more domestic-branded vehicles than I've owned import-branded vehicles.
 
The Cruz is a product of GM development. GM is an American company with their headquarters here. The fact that they hired a German engineer to develop this car is a feather in their cap. GM sells probably more of their vehicles overseas than they do here. They are still an American Corporation. When a vehicle they design sells here, they retool their plants to produce them here. When they produce vehicles here that sell here, they start to make the parts here instead of just in Mexico or Canada. To make a long story short, If we buy em', they'll make em here. If only Europeans buy en, they'll build them over there. THAT is the global economy in a nutshell. Remember, GM was almost as much bailed out by China buying Buicks as they were by the USA government and that is why they are paying back so quickly.
 
I think NAFTA or other such agreement defined "domestic" production as North America, including the United States and Canada. I don't think it includes Mexico, but I could be wrong.
 
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