Country of Origin?

[Turbo Bob]

When we ordered our Suburban, I learned that they're made in either Wisconsin, Texas, or Mexico. At first I was a little concerned that we might get a Mexican-built one, but then I found out that the Mexican factory is among GM's best for quality. Then I was disappointed to find out ours was built in Wisconsin. 

Ha ha, that's hilarious! 

[Mitlov]

OK OK, this thread isn't about protectionism, I meant it to be about build quality.

Wherever the plant is located, most of the work is automated.  Robots don't have nationalities.  So I don't think location of assembly matters one whit in the finished product.

I think a car's national character, if any, comes from where it's designed, not where it's assembled.

[Juke1]

So cars built in Mexico are bad for our auto industry, but those built Japan are good?

Every auto company will always base some of it's product in it's home country.

Neither Mexico and Canada are home to a national auto company.  Mexico has an endless supply of cheap labour @ $4.50 per hour.  Do the math.  


Hey Artic, do you remind clients that the Tacoma is "hecho en Mexico" too?

The Mexican's have 1/3 of Tacoma production and none make it up here.  They use a lot of them in that country and are entitled to their share of production.  All the composite beds are made in Mexico.  Now I think 100% of production, like the Fusion, is a little over the top.

Mexican workers have exactly ZERO rights.  Many must attend the assembly line sick for fear of being permanently discarded like many things in Mexico.  Consequently, I think build quality does suffer when assembly is situated in a failed state.

Consequently, I think build quality does suffer when assembly is situated in a failed state.

So what is Toyota's excuse for declining quality and cheapness?  Kentucky and Texas are failed states?

[Juke1]

OK OK, this thread isn't about protectionism, I meant it to be about build quality.

Wherever the plant is located, most of the work is automated.  Robots don't have nationalities.  So I don't think location of assembly matters one whit in the finished product.

I think a car's national character, if any, comes from where it's designed, not where it's assembled.

Well said Mitlov

Personally it does not matter to me.

Arctic, Fusion 100% Mexicano and it's an awesome highly rated car!  So what is Toyota waiting for? Camry tranny sucks and it's not made in Mexico!  Poor quality Tundra made in Texas!

We like our Mexican assembled Sentra and Versa very much, thank you.

[tpl]

OK OK, this thread isn't about protectionism, I meant it to be about build quality.

Wherever the plant is located, most of the work is automated.  Robots don't have nationalities.  So I don't think location of assembly matters one whit in the finished product.

I think a car's national character, if any, comes from where it's designed, not where it's assembled.

Right.   I don't care where my cars are built, just where they were designed.
My Mk II Golf GTI was built in Philadelphia or was it Pennsylvania... wherever VW had its factory in 1987
My Mk3  in Brazil I think
My Mk5 in Germany.
maybe my next one will be built in the USA or Mexico... don't care.

But all three were designed in Germany for ( mostly) German/European tastes.

[inco]

Makes no difference here, although I still would spurn any car coming from England. Okay not all of them, but years ago my MGB and Morris Minor were cars that tainted the waters and that memory lingers.

Sooner or later though we are likely going to end up with only three or four countries producing cars - Mexico, China, India and perhaps Brazil. It's all about production costs.

[tpl]

Hmmmmm  I had both a Morris 1000 and a MGB but in their natural habitat and imho they worked just fine... by the standards of 1960's cars.

[safristi]

Does where a car is made matter to your purchasing decision?

Not one iota.

......................


 THAT is insulting to ALL IOTIANS..........................

[inco]

Hmmmmm  I had both a Morris 1000 and a MGB but in their natural habitat and imho they worked just fine... by the standards of 1960's cars.

Our expectation levels have changed since then. Now we expect more, or at least better. I blame it on Lucas!

[Loudpedal]

Makes no difference here, although I still would spurn any car coming from England. Okay not all of them, but years ago my MGB and Morris Minor were cars that tainted the waters and that memory lingers.

Sooner or later though we are likely going to end up with only three or four countries producing cars - Mexico, China, India and perhaps Brazil. It's all about production costs.

My 2002 Honda Civic SiR was built in Swindon, England.   Thankfully it came with no Lucas electrics under the hood...

Truth be told, it was a great car with no issues one would associate with the "British built" stereotype.

[safristi]

..wots wrong with 5 hours PREP-WORK fer a half hour RUN.......

[Giant Dwarf]

I'd like to believe that ultimately I'd be rational enough to choose the vehicle that best suits my wants and needs -- recognizing that quality control / reliability will be one of the key factors.  As we're seeing lately, cars made in countries that were once feared for producing low-quality products (ie. Korean cars or Mexican-built cars) are now producing among some of the very best in the world.  As stated earlier -- robots know no nationality.

In reality though, if all other aspects were equal and I was trying to decide between car A built in Japan or USA and car B built down the road in Ontario, I'd certainly feel good about helping to support our local economy.  Knowing the Cambridge-built RX Lexuses rated higher than their Japanese counterparts makes me feel pretty good and does make the vehicle more desirable to me.   

[mmret]

So cars built in Mexico are bad for our auto industry, but those built Japan are good? WTF?

Auto workers in Japan are well paid. Japanese workers are covered by national health insurance, Japanese companies have pension plans. Japan has rule of law. Japan has not had 10,000 people shot down in the street in a year in drug war.

Mexican workers are rather less taken care IMHO.

So we should avoid buying Mexican-made cars, thus causing the corporate motherships to shut down the factories, so that the formerly employed workers can be tossed onto the street?

Or do you think that somehow NOT buying those cars is actually going to help the situation? Absurd.

Every time I see comments like this all I can hear is "Our country is better so I'm not buying anything from that place."

[Mitlov]

Makes no difference here, although I still would spurn any car coming from England.

Q:  Why do the British drink warm beer?
A:  Because their refrigerators have Lucas electrics.

Q:  Why are there no British-made computers?
A:  Because they couldn't figure out how to make them leak oil.

Sorry, couldn't resist (In all seriousness, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a modern Triumph motorcycle, and if I had the means, I'd love a Vantage).

[vdk]

So cars built in Mexico are bad for our auto industry, but those built Japan are good? WTF?

Auto workers in Japan are well paid. Japanese workers are covered by national health insurance, Japanese companies have pension plans. Japan has rule of law. Japan has not had 10,000 people shot down in the street in a year in drug war.

Mexican workers are rather less taken care IMHO.

So we should avoid buying Mexican-made cars, thus causing the corporate motherships to shut down the factories, so that the formerly employed workers can be tossed onto the street?

Or do you think that somehow NOT buying those cars is actually going to help the situation? Absurd.

Every time I see comments like this all I can hear is "Our country is better so I'm not buying anything from that place."

There's no point in arguing with them MM, it's a lost cause.

[Sival]

I prefer cars I purchase to be made by workers who are treated well and paid decent amounts for the work they produce, if they are unionized, it's a big plus. I will not consider cars from companies who are doing union-busting, so Toyota and Honda, I will not consider your cars until you stop acting like Wal-Mart in relation to your employees in your North American plants (strangely, a disease that affects only their North American divisions, Toyota's and Honda's employees in Japan and Europe are unionized). Even Nissan's Mexican plant of Aguascalientes is unionized, why do you keep doing all you can to deny that right to your own workers in Canadian and American plants?

Besides that, I also prefer to support local industries over contributing to trade deficits, but I don't make much difference between Canada and the USA.

[Erik]

I look at country of origin in EVERYTHING I buy, so why should cars be different?

[Trainman]

County of manufacture is not an issue for me, I have other factors that are much more important, such as reliability, design, build qaulity, features I want/need.  I have owned or driven vehicles made in Canada, the US, Japan and Mexico and have seen no trends in any of them.

And being in an industry that has been brought to its knees by protectionism by other another country, I have no desire to see us do the same to anyone else.

[Arhidia]

I don't really are what country the car is made in as long as it's reliable and has the design and features that I'm looking for. Having said that, I will not buy a car made by a unionized workforce in ontario. I don't like the unions political influence on government.

[Roddy]

I prefer cars I purchase to be made by workers who are treated well and paid decent amounts for the work they produce, if they are unionized, it's a big plus. I will not consider cars from companies who are doing union-busting, so Toyota and Honda, I will not consider your cars until you stop acting like Wal-Mart in relation to your employees in your North American plants (strangely, a disease that affects only their North American divisions, Toyota's and Honda's employees in Japan and Europe are unionized). Even Nissan's Mexican plant of Aguascalientes is unionized, why do you keep doing all you can to deny that right to your own workers in Canadian and American plants?

Besides that, I also prefer to support local industries over contributing to trade deficits, but I don't make much difference between Canada and the USA.

While I will support companies that treat their workers fairly I am far less likely to buy a product from a company that's unionized. I don't agree with the union mentality and will go to great lengths to avoid supporting them.

LOL if you're concerned about your trade deficit, you should start by cutting your oil consumption.