Interesting-Toyota is most American built car

[diggin]

I'm so glad I switched from GM.

Consumers looking to buy a domestically made car or truck may find that some familiar American models are far less homegrown than they might think, an annual survey shows.

Ford Motor's (F) popular F-150 pickup truck, for example, contains so many foreign-sourced parts that it failed to make Cars.com's top rankings of its American-Made Cars index for 2010. Meanwhile, Japan's Toyota Motor (TM), had more models on the list than other manufacturer, taking three of the top 10 slots.

Just 55% of the parts used to manufacture the 2010 model of the venerable F-150 come from domestic sources, the online car-buying guide says. In past years, the F-150 has held steady with around 80% domestic content. The 2009 redesign reduced that amount to a still-respectable 75% rating. Other Ford models did make the list, however: The Escape SUV and Focus compact took third and fourth, respectively.

The F-150 typically tops vehicle sales charts in the U.S. year in and year out. But its two competitors for that No. 1 sales spot, the Toyota Camry and the Honda (HMC) Accord, contained the most domestic content of any popular vehicles sold in the U.S., according to Cars.com's analysis.

Camry's first-place ranking was a repeat for Toyota. The popular sedan, manufactured in

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/gwkZJ2
Georgetown, Ky., and Lafayette, Ind., displaced the F-150 last year to take the top spot. At No. 2, with a 75% domestic content and strong sales, the Accord is new to the index. All Accords sold in the U.S. are now assembled in either Ohio or Alabama.

Decline in Use of Domestic Parts Knocks Pickups Off List

The index takes into several criteria in determining which models are most American. Those include where the vehicle is made; how popular it is; and the percentage of domestically produced parts used in manufacturing it. Cars.com disqualifies models with a domestic parts content rating below 75%, models built exclusively outside the U.S., or lines soon to be discontinued without a U.S.-built successor.

America's other top nameplate, Chevrolet -- General Motors' "baseball, hot dogs and apple pie" brand -- had only one model on this year's top 10 list: the Malibu midsized sedan, built in Kansas City, Kan., ranked No. 5. GM's Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-sized pickups once regularly appeared on the American-Made Index. But with production of both trucks now split between the U.S. and Mexico, today's models have only 65% domestic-parts content, Cars.com said.

Chrysler Group's Ram 1500 and Toyota's Tundra pickups, however, did make the top 10, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, with Chrysler's iconic Jeep Wrangler SUV, built in Toledo, Ohio, taking ninth.

In addition to the Tundra and the Camry, one other Toyota made the list at No. 6, the Sienna minivan, which is made in Indiana.

Cars.com 2010 American-Made Index

Rank Make/Model (U.S. Assembly Location) 2009 Rank
1. Toyota Camry (Georgetown, Ky., and Lafayette, Ind.) 1
2. Honda Accord (Marysville, Ohio, and Lincoln, Ala.) --
3. Ford Escape (Kansas City, Mo.) --
4. Ford Focus (Wayne, Mich.) --
5. Chevrolet Malibu (Kansas City, Kan.) 3
6. Honda Odyssey (Lincoln, Ala.) 4
7. Ram 1500* (Warren, Mich.) --
8. Toyota Tundra (San Antonio) 7
9. Jeep Wrangler (Toledo, Ohio) --
10. Toyota Sienna (Princeton, Ind.) 6

*Quad cab and crew cab only. Excludes Ram 1500 single cab, which is assembled in Mexico.

Sources: Automaker data, Automotive News, dealership data, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/gwkZJ2

 

[diggin]

A new study from Cars.com sheds light on the absurdity of thinking cars have a "nationality."
When you consider that even a post-bailout GM will expand its use of foreign labor, it shouldn't be that hard to understand how an "American" car isn't really so, just because its maker was founded in Detroit.
And more generally, there seems to be little reason to think that American cars are really more American in any metrics that matter: Namely, labor and parts inputs.
According to the new survey, the most American car in America is the Toyota Camry, containing the highest percentage of American inputs, even surpassing the Ford F-150. Actually, Toyota utterly dominates the top 10 list, with a Honda thrown in for good measure.
Now some might object to this, saying that even though these cars are "made-in-America", the value still flows overseas, but really, even that's not right. Toyota still pays taxes in America. Its stock is traded in the US, and is no doubt owned by individual retail accounts and mutual funds.
If you insist on coming up with some definition of "American" that limits that moniker to the Big Three, we suppose it's this: Only Chrysler, Ford and GM have the political clout to win a bailout if needed. We really can't imagine Toyota or Honda receiving so much political support. Of course, this is a circular definition that still doesn't say much, but it's the best you can do.
Follow Joe Weisenthal


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/toyota-americas-car-company-2009-7#ixzz1LlIZzRqN

 

[Mafesto]

Anyone who's been around here knows I have been a huge proponent of the "big 3", sometimes to the point that my posts were rhetorical nonsense.

No more.

Organized labor has turned me off to the point that my loyalty to the big 3 is no longer existent.

If the unions either woke up & realized that what is good for the company is good for the workers, or disolved altogether that loyalty will return immediately.

 

[diggin]

I agree with that completely.
I just think it's too bad the big three aren't supporting North American companies as much as people think when it comes to buying/manufacturing car parts.
According to these articles, a much higher percentage of your money stays in North America if you buy Toyota or Honda vehicles. That is not what the public is led to believe.

 

[NorthMNSledder]

Interesting article but what it does not say is where the profit from these manufactures are going. While on one hand your Toyota Camery has a higher percentage of domestic parts in it where does the profit that Toyota makes go? Does there profit stay in the US or go back to Japan?

Does it matter to most people? Not sure.

But what is better for us as a country. Buying a car/truck that was built from 75% US parts and then the profits are sent out of the country. or buying a car/truck that has 55% to 65% US parts but the profits stay here? And of those percentage of US built parts, how many of those companies making those parts are US company's? The article does not really say if the companies making those "home grown" parts are US companies or if there overseas companies that have plants here in the US and they are sending their profits away.

 

[diggin]

In the second article_


"Now some might object to this, saying that even though these cars are "made-in-America", the value still flows overseas, but really, even that's not right. Toyota still pays taxes in America. Its stock is traded in the US, and is no doubt owned by individual retail accounts and mutual funds.
If you insist on coming up with some definition of "American" that limits that moniker to the Big Three, we suppose it's this: Only Chrysler, Ford and GM have the political clout to win a bailout if needed. We really can't imagine Toyota or Honda receiving so much political support. Of course, this is a circular definition that still doesn't say much, but it's the best you can do."

"When you consider that even a post-bailout GM will expand its use of foreign labor, it shouldn't be that hard to understand how an "American" car isn't really so, just because its maker was founded in Detroit"

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/toyota-americas-car-company-2009-7#ixzz1LlIZzRqN[/QUOTE]

 

[ruffryder]

Interesting article but what it does not say is where the profit from these manufactures are going. While on one hand your Toyota Camery has a higher percentage of domestic parts in it where does the profit that Toyota makes go? Does there profit stay in the US or go back to Japan?

Does it matter to most people? Not sure.

One thing to keep in mind is the Japanese CEO salaries are no where near what they are here. In Japan it is deemed unfitting to rape a company for all you can..

 

[treemagnet03]

They still make millions in Japan....and thinking that Toyota hasn't ever leaned on their government for support is completely living in the dark. The reason that the big three have the clout here and Toyota and Honda don't is due to the reverse senario in Japan. They call that home court advantage in sports. On principal I still try to support people that work here...and what this article doesn't include, I assume, is the number of office jobs that relate directly to each vehicle made. I assure you that there are still thousands in Detroit that depend on sales to feed their kids, union or not. Without any support, these companies die and we again raise the American flag of defeat to an outside company.

 

[Highmarker]

I own two vehicles....one Chevy and one Toyota. Chevy built in canada....Toyota built in US. Imagine that! Bet that Toyota will last me three times as long also! The big three really need to get on the ball with building a reliable vehicles. Honda/Toyota have that department down! Now if they only made a 3/4 ton! To each their own but I would have a hard time giving my monet to GM again, after a government bailout. Like their trucks...hate their overpaid ego filled CEO's who take a private jet to washington to beg for money. WTF?

But in the end...I am spending the money that I worked hard for. Therefore, I will buy the truck that suits me best. That I like the most. Don't care about all the political crap. Not going to buy junk just because it was built in America, or vise versa. I am not "brand loyal" with my $50,000!

 

[diggin]

I also have to buy what works for me. It's not a secret how to make a reliable car, it's a matter of spending the money to do it.
My Tundra (1/2 ton) came from Texas, to embarrass my unreliable 3/4 ton 05 Duramax and I'm never switching back. 120000 miles later I have never been to the dealer.
I put 75000 miles on the new Chev before it had to go.

 

[ruffryder]

I also have to buy what works for me. It's not a secret how to make a reliable car, it's a matter of spending the money to do it.

I think it has little to do with the amount of money spent. It has to do with the mentality of the Japanese car makers and the American car makers.

Take a listen to this... I found it very interesting. It talks about how the Japanese business culture was based and incentivised with producing a quality vehicle. The American business culture was based on producing as many vehicles as possible. Also, there is a huge difference between the way the workers and management work in Japan vs. how they work here in the US. Not sure why, but it seems that the US is one of the few countries where the workers and management are enemies... even when they are in and part of the same company. Pretty stupid and takes a lot of focus off the actual building of the car.

FYI, Nummi was a joint venture between GM and Toyota, where Toyota showed GM how it builds cars. It is more then just assembling the cars, it is the mentality and the culture of the workforce.

This American Life:NUMMI
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi

 

[ruffryder]

So did anyone click the link and listen to the interviews?

Just curious if people out there do, or not.