Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: andrewg
But, poor design/sales and unreliable, crummy vehicles should also be a reason to be out of business. But that wasn't the case recently with an American auto maker.
I think Toyota, on average, has produced some very fine vehicles and will continue to do so.
So then, did the 'sacred' Nippon Giant "deserve" to go out of business in the '60s-early '70s when everything they produced was a total RUSTBUCKET??
Or should they be condemned as 'government motors' themselves for benefitting from their OWN government's protectionist trade policies/tax breaks/'welfare', or even their OWN dumping policies which gave them as much a stranglehold/'leg up'/almost monopoloy as their supposed 'perfect products'?!!
Goose and gander.
People would have quit buying their cars in the USA ages ago, if they weren't worth it.
It is fun for many people to compare their cars to certain American cars, like Buicks, Lincolns, and Oldsmobiles, but when you compare a 70s Toyota to any American car of the same size, you get a more fair comparison.
In places where there is no road salt, you can still find very old Toyota trucks.
And the USA protected itself from trucks that were built in Japan. It was included in another tax. None of our car makers wanted to compete with the tiny Datsun pickup.