Where does the profit from every Honda (and Toyota) built and sold in america go?
I mean the profit from the manufacturer to the dealership.
Hint: The largest profit margin in the automotive industry is made at the manufacturing level.
That is how it is Un-American. Even more upsetting is that the American public is naive enough to think that if the vehicle is built here, it is American supportive to buy it!
All the while, the foreign manufacturers are killing two birds with one stone by being able to make statements like, built in America and to avoid tariffs that would have to be paid if the vehicles were built abroad and shipped here. Meanwhile the largest profit made from EVERY car goes back to THEIR country!

Could that be the reason so many foreign manufacturers have switched?

I wasn't insulting you, I simply typed how your partially factual post contradicted what you wrote and how it reflected on my thought of you supporting your country.

If you were insulted I apologize. It was you who typed your post and no one else.


I actually thought YOUR post was abit insulting towards Ford, which was why I felt the need to reply.

08FEH

 

OOPS! Got a warning on that one.





08FEH

 

I remember a quote about the costs of production.

For every dollar you spend making an item in the US, it would cost you 75 cents to make in Mexico and 35 cents to make in China.

You say Toyota is stealing money from American's when nearly every company is fattening CEO wallets by moving jobs outside the US? All thanks to great forsight of the democratic party and NAFTA. Thank you President Clinton.

 

Sungod18 hits the nail squarely on the head, although Clinton isn't the only politician to blame. Also, American companies are going unbelievably un-American things; shipping our JOBS overseas, hiring "temporary" foreign workers in our country for much lower wages (to replace the jobs here that can't as easily be sent overseas), and moving large parts of their companies offshore as well (to avoid US taxes and/or regulations).
While buying an American-made Honda DOES indeed help keep American auto workers employed, most of the profit from that purchase goes back to Japan. At least a worker stays employed.
It's all very sad, and if something isn't done about it soon, it will snowball into an irreversible mess.

 

Way off topic, it must be a relief to know that GW Bush and the Republican House have been so successful in:

• stopping US manufacturing out-sourcing
• reducing illegal aliens
• defending against bin Laden pre-9/11
• capturing bin Laden after 9/11
• paying down the Reagan memorial debt
• the gratitude of the Iraqi people
• rubber-stamp, anti-freedom, Supreme Court
• uniting us in hybrid electric car discussions

Bob Wilson

 

I agree that GW Bush is short on any ideas except for bad ones. I once heard him say that "Saddam is addicted to weapons of mass destruction." We all know where that idea got us. Recently he threatened to veto a bill in congress aimed at moving 16 billion in tax credits currently enjoyed by big oil to alternative forms of energy (wind, solar, etc). We very much need leaders in congress who will address the need to move away from an oil-based energy policy. Bushy and his buddies were raised on that money and will never give it up.

Will the Chevrolet Volt (and Fords copycat be enough to salvage american automobile manufacturers? I certainly hope so.

 

Just to clarify, I didn't use the word stealing anywhere in my post.
While I don't disagree with most of your post sungod, I have chosen to TRY to be part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem (albeit in a small small way).
My choice to buy American as much as I can, is just that: my choice.
This way, I don't have to provide excuses to support my decision.

I know that there are many reasons for buying a hybrid in the first place. One of the reasons many on this site have agreed on- is to lower dependance on foreign products (oil).
Even if in our own small way, each one of us is contributing to that.
If that is the case, then how is buying a foreign manufactured vehicle lowering our dependance on foreign manufactered products (cars)? I think it's abit of an oxymoron to support foreign manufacturing (the car) to reduce our dependance on foreign manufacturing (Oil).

Again, this is NOT being posted to flame, It's my opinion, which I have a right to post. (In a nicer way as I have been instructed by the moderator).

Another even funnier oxymoron is when I see a poster with a foreign vehicle in their signature say that they will not shop at Walmart! (if you look they sell American products too)

To add to the list, how about an American flag sticker on a foreign manufactured vehicle. It makes me wonder which country is being supported??? The 25 cents for the sticker you bought (if IT was made in the US of course) or the 25,000 for the car you bought to put it on!!

How about a veteran of war or a purple heart plate on a foreign vehicle. Uh which war did you serve in?? Only to return money to a foreign country in exchange for the lives lost while fighting to support our country??

Lastly, A marines, army, navy, national guard, airforce or other American service member sticker on your foreign built car. Again a proud way to show that you support our country with your time and your life (the sticker), but not with the money in which you are paid in the country in which you live (the purchase).

Things that make you go hmmm?!??

08FEH

 

I agree 100%. If the Volt actually can be made, it sure would create a lot of American jobs because of the new focus on battery and electric motor manufacturing. I'm not sure what Ford's calling their version of the serial hybrid prototype, but it could really revitalize their medium-sized car & SUV segment.

Sure, I drive a HCH now. But would I buy a serial-hybrid Ford Focus? In a nanosecond. I'd consider a hybrid Fusion (if I could afford it).

when I bought my hybrid, there were only two sedans to choose from, and both were Japanese. sadly, 5 years later, that is still the case.

I just hope that if Ford(GM do make serd do made serial hybrids that they will have the decency to keep the manufacturing in the United States and not outsource it to China or Mexico.

 

My last post has a lot of typos because I wrote it from my cell phone and I couldn't actually see what I was typing. Darned tiny screens!

 

That is a good point Ashen, I certainly hope they keep it here too (the manufacturing)...Which unfortunately isn't always the case, as others have said too.