http://www.nyse.com/interface/jsp/NHDetail...isdowjones=true

The real reason our cars tank in japane is because Japan doesnt allow U.S. made cars to have their own dealerships in Japan. They have to mix their cars in with Japanese car companies. Odds are if you go to a toyota dealer your not looking to buy a Taurus.

Thats not true. Ive been to Japan (I spent a week in Nagoya back in February) and there are plenty of Ford and Chevy dealerships.

A short but good insight.

Wow. I had no idea what a debate I’d started on foreign versus domestic autos.

Anyhow, here’s my humble response to the negative feedback to my “Buy U.S. cars” letter:

U.S. cars may have been accused of poor mileage and low reliability a decade or so ago, but today’s domestic cars compare very well in both those departments. Two of the worst cars I ever owned were foreign, so now I only buy U.S. cars. Seems simple to me.

As for U.S. gas guzzlers versus foreign mini-cars, check around. You’ll find U.S. manufacturers build several gas-sipping models (Chevy Malibu and Ford Focus get 34 to 35 miles per gallon highway) while foreign cars get bigger every year. The Hyundai Azera and Kia Amanti (almost as big as the Lincoln Town Car) only get 19 mpg highway.

U.S. manufacturers offer plenty of choices — big and small, low and high mpg. It’s all a matter of choice.

As for foreign car plants in the United States, it might seem like those cars are just as American as those of the Big 3. However, foreign auto companies setting up plants here are free of “legacy costs” — pensions and health insurance for retired U.S. workers. These plants have almost no retired American workers. An average $1,500 legacy cost must be factored into the price of every GM or Ford car.

In addition, obviously, profits on foreign cars return to a foreign country. Also, for instance, Japan manipulates its currency to keep it cheap against the dollar, to keep the price of Japanese autos below comparable U.S. models.

Then there’s the value added tax (VAT). Tokyo maintains a lock on its home market by imposing a VAT on U.S. auto imports, and rebates that tax on autos and parts exported to America. This double-subsidy gives a Japanese car a 15 percent price advantage over a Ford or GM car in both markets.

Also, there’s “transfer pricing.” Japanese auto parts manufacturers overcharge U.S. subsidiaries for parts, cutting profits of their U.S. subsidiaries and reducing their U.S. corporate taxes. Profits are repatriated, virtually untaxed, to Japan.

As for U.S.-branded cars and parts made overseas, perhaps that’s the Big 3 struggling to stay afloat in this unfair market. What would you have those companies do — completely go out of business when Canadian and Mexican labor is cheaper than U.S. labor (primarily due to the inequitable costs described above)?

Hopefully, the U.S. manufacturers will find their way to better times when all cars are pluggable hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) with hub motors and a simple controller, and are super reliable and mostly robotically made. That’s the best way for the Big 3 to compete with cheap foreign labor, and I predict it’ll happen soon.

Google the Chevy Volt for a U.S.-made car that gets 100 mpg (more when you recharge at night). It is simple, stylish and super reliable — and available soon.

As for percent of U.S.-made content, check the American-made index on Cars.com for the top 10 “domestic” cars in the country. A given auto model has to have greater than 75 percent U.S.-made content to be on the list. All but two (Camry and Sienna) of the 10 are by U.S. manufacturers.

Trade imbalance is what gave us our humongous national debt, deficit and debt interest. To understand these astronomical figures better, divide them by our 300 million population. The $7 trillion debt converts to $23,000 per person, our $500 billion annual deficit becomes $1,700 each, and the $350 billion yearly interest (at 5 percent) on the debt is $1,166 each per year. That’s $4,700 for a family of four — just to pay the yearly interest on the debt!

Now do you know where your income taxes go? Trace most of it to our horrendous trade imbalance, and much of that to foreign car purchases. Many of the banks holding our debt (and collecting interest on it) are from the same countries that are selling us their cars. What will we do if they call in these loans some day?

Would these foreign countries be as generous to the United States if our roles were reversed?




Link to top 10 american made cars. Is Toyota as American as you would like to think?


http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?se...re&story=amMade





With all that said, I dont hate toyota, hell my brother sells toyotas and one of my cars are financed by them. But what Japan is doing to the u.s. auto industry is unfair. there is no doubt about it.

I'll tell you what, Id love to buy American and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe when Ford and GM make something that compares to what Toyota and Honda are making I will consider one. Im not holding my breath though...

Are you one of those people who think that just because its not American its a better product? Thats what it sounds like. Ive been in plenty 'o' cars in my life and I tell you the Japanese car is far over rated. People read too much car and driver or motortrend, where cars a graded on a curve depeneding on if they are imported or not.

Nope. Im not a believer in Korean or European cars, in fact Id take a Ford or Chevy over a Hyundai or Volkswagen.
Are you one of those people who that just because it IS American its a better product? Kinda sounds like it.

"Say it isn't so?! But I thought Americans build crap cars and Toyota/Lexus built the best quality cars on the road? Not according to the facts (Businessweek, etc.). Read on and the next time someone tells you American built cars are crap, you can inform them otherwise. Feel free to pass on to friends.

Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism. He also writes "Buy American Mention of the Week"
---------------
Thunder on the Tundra: Toyota Trucks Ahead in 2007 Recalls

If you've merely done a moderate amount of Internet surfing or cracked open a newspaper lately - just about any newspaper - you've undoubtedly seen the news that Toyota has once again passed Ford in worldwide auto sales and may pass GM sometime this year.

But what you may not have seen is that Toyota has already passed both Ford and GM in a different category - automotive recalls.

Although we've barely passed mid-February, Toyota has already recalled! 533,417 vehicles this year in a mix that, according to www.AutoRecalls.us, includes Tundras Sequoias and Camrys. That puts Toyota on track to recall more than the over 1.76 million autos they recalled in the U.S. and Japan in 2006, and the 2.2 million they recalled in 2005 when they recalled more cars than they built.
What's more, the current recall related to the Turdra trucks and Sequioa SUVs is similar to the same defect in 800,000 of the same vehicles in 2005.
Maybe somebody at Toyota isn't paying attention?

Hopefully the American consumers are. Recall numbers by domestic companies (GM and Ford) so far this year are as follows: Ford, 128,163; Chevrolet, 4,829; and Pontiac, 1,602. Chrysler - a German company masquerading as an American company with plans to start importing cars from China in 2008 - has recalled 77,432 vehicles so far in 2007.

To be sure, high recall numbers are not good. Auto companies would much rather prefer high sales numbers instead. As I've already mentioned, the media is abuzz that GM may lose its crown this year to Toyota in worldwide auto sales. But for that to ever happen in the U.S. sales category, it's going to take several more years since GM has a U.S. market share of 24.3% compared to 15.4% for Toyota. Even Ford, despite their recent troubles, has a higher domestic market share than Toyota at 17.5%.

But if GM loses their worldwide crown this year, it may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Here's why:

First, GM spent 17% less per vehicle this January compared to last January, which means they are more profitable on a per-unit basis. In fact, GM expects to report a profit for the most recent quarter.

Second, it may be good for GM to step aside temporarily, for now, and let Toyota take all the ammunition that is always aimed at the top dog of the industry so there is less pressure and fewer distractions. And when GM combines their more-solid profitability and their improved quality together, their public perception will also improve.

Then they can use these admirable qualities to prepare to surge back on top at the precise time Toyota is in the top slot with their recall surge in the news. Toyota's timing at being number one worldwide would create further skepticism about whether they really deserve their reputation for untarnished quality.

According to Business Week's January 22, 2007 issue, Toyota has recalled 9.3 million vehicles in the last three years, which is nearly four times the number of recalls in the three year period prior to 2004.

Other recent news that won't sit well with a Camry-conscious public is the class-action lawsuit recently settled by Toyota regarding ruinous oil sludge buildup
covering 3.5 million Toyota and Lexus (yes, Lexus) vehicles.

Optimistic statements by Toyota executives aren't going to cut it for long - particularly when they don't match well with reality. Denial in the Camry-company camp seems to be setting in. Toyota's North American president Jim Press recently disputed the suggestion that his company no longer enjoys a large lead in reliability over the American competition. Speculating on the thoughts of American car company well-wishers while speaking at the recent Chicago Auto Show,
Press said "I think there's some hope that the gap in quality is closing, but it really isn't."
Oh, really? That's a pretty strong comment considering Toyota recalled 1.27 million vehicles in one swoop in 2005, recording the biggest-ever recall in history for a Japanese car company.

But, recalls notwithstanding, the evidence that the quality gap is closing is pretty indisputable, and the evidence has been piling up for more than just the last couple of years. With the following facts, you can make your argument for American car quality fully bulletproof - even among your most ardent foreign car-defending friends.

* A February 10, 2003 Business Week told of how undeniable it was that GM cars are better built than they used to be. The article cited an improved J.D. Power quality ranking and a Consumer Reports recommendation for 13 of GM's vehicles (equal to 41% of their sales volume) compared to just five recommended GM vehicles for the previous year. The Chevy Impala beat the Camry in a quality survey, and Buick beat BMW.

* Business Week also reported September 23, 2003 that GM boosted its productivity 23% in six years while Toyota's productivity remained flat, and that GM's most-productive factories now beat Toyota's most-productive factories.

* A 2004 Consumer Reports ranking selected the Buick Regal as the most reliable among family sedans, beating the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Nissan Maxima. They also gave recommended ratings for four Ford models, including the Ford Focus.
* J.D. Power and Associates awarded Cadillac's Lansing Grand River assembly center its highest honor - the Gold Plant Quality Award - in 2004.

* An August 4, 2004 Wall Street Journal article said Toyota's lead in quality and reliability has narrowed in some segments and disappeared in others. Quality problems were reportedly "mushrooming."

* The Toyota Camry hasn't been awarded the best in its segment since the year 2000, but many Americans continue to regard it as the number one model in terms of quality. Toyota's Kentucky Camry plant was awarded with high initial quality rankings by J.D. Power from the late 1980s through the 1990s, but it plummeted to number 26 in 2002, improving to only number 14 in 2004, while two GM factories and one Ford factory took the top three spots that year.

* In a J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey of new 2004 cars, Chevy placed second behind Honda and Toyota sank to number three.

* As far back as at least 2003, Business Week has reported that American consumers regard certain foreign cars as better built than American cars, even when facts prove otherwise.

* Fast-forwarding to 2006, J.D. Power shows Mercury, Buick and Cadillac beat Toyota in a list of dependable cars. Two Buicks and a Mercury took the top three midsize car awards; Mercury, Ford and Buick took the top three large car awards; Ford took the midsize van award and the midsize truck award; and GMC and Cadillac took the large MAV (multi-purpose activity vehicle) and large premium MAV awards, respectively.
* In an article about trust issues, Business Week's December 11, 2006 issue stated "GM's quality nearly equals Toyota's." Perceived quality among the American public is another story, however. The difference between the actual quality of American cars and the perceived quality of American cars is the "perception gap."

* In the same article, J.D. Power's director for retail research said "Actual quality is so close." discussing the quality rankings of GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac placing them on par with both Honda and Toyota.

* And most recently, of course, the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan beat the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry according to Consumer Reports.
What's needed among automotive senior executives, and much of the media as well, is a return to intellectual honesty. Everyone tends to have their favorites and biases (mine are pretty obvious) but I pride myself in sticking with the facts to back up my comments.

When Toyotas North American president says that the quality gap isn't really closing, he's not being intellectually honest.
Some editorial writers aren't either. When Douglas Brinkley trumpeted Indiana's success in a Wall Street Journal article last year for attracting a Honda plant to their state - even though it took $140 million in tax credits and incentives - he wasn't what you would call "intellectually honest." In an apparent attempt to convince the reader that Honda doesn't send any automobiles to the U.S. from outside the country, he said the
following: "Turning farm fields into factories, that's what Henry Ford used to do. Today, in the heartland, it's being done by Honda - a company that doesn't manufacture imports but builds American-made cars."

Such statements lead the reader to think that some Japanese companies make all of their cars in the USA. Hardly. In fact, according to a January 8,
2007 Wall Street Journal article, the NAP ratio - a ratio that compares how many cars are built in North America vs. the number of cars imported - is slipping for Toyota. And according to Toyota internal documentation, the ratio is going to worsen next year."


******Cliffs notes:
Apparently Toyota has indeed passed up GM in total sales at this point in the Year, but as luck would have it, they have also passed them up in total recalls.
Total number of recalls:
Toyota- 533,417
Ford- 128,163
Chrysler- 77, 000
Chevrolet- 4,829
Pontiac- 1,602




So much for that great import build quality huh? Again Im not saying our cars are the bees knees, but Im just sick of people knocking them not knowing what they are talking about.

Ive owned 'em both, so its not as if I dont know what Im talking about.
The Toyota Ive owned all had well over 200,000 miles on them and when you consider that the domestics Ive owned all had well under 100,000 miles on them and broke down a lot more often than the Toyota I owned, well, thats proof enough for me.
Keep believing that anti-import drivel if you want, me, I know what the truth is.
If you are so pro-domestic, what are you doing on a Toyota forum? Do you think you are going to make us all see the error of our import-buying ways? Get over yourself.