Ask The Best And Brightest: How American Does An American Car Need To Be?

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

In TTAC’s recent Chevrolet Cruze review, tced2 made a very interesting point:

Why does “globalization” always mean the work is done everywhere but America? Isn’t America on the “globe”?

Another interesting comment, this one from alexndr333:

So, welcome to 2010, Mr. Baruth, and watch as GM operates like the other big boys, pulling its international talents together to design, engineer and build a small car for us Americans.

I’ll stand by my previous statements here. My definition of an “American car” is one with major engineering input from the United States, assembled in the United States using a majority of United States-sourced parts. Anything else — whether we are talking Fiesta, Corolla, or Cruze — isn’t quite good enough. When I buy Allen-Edmonds shoes or a Hickey-Freeman suit, I expect full US assembly and I expect to be notified of non-US content in the product.

So, my question to the B&B is twofold. First: Are you interested in purchasing an “American car”? If so, what is the working definition you use for that phrase?

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Davey49 Davey49 on Aug 02, 2010

    1st choice- company headquartered in the US- built in the US 2nd choice- company headquartered in the US- built in foreign country 3rd choice- foreign company- US built 4th choice- foreign company- foreign built 2 is a better choice over 3 because only ~11% of the money spent/made on a product is in manufacturing. 89% or so is spent/made on designing, engineering, marketing, R&D and administration. Plus the US based companies pay more taxes. The trick is knowing the companies that are American. Hellmann's mayonnaise, Dove soap, Stouffer's meals, Breyer's Ice Cream- All foreign

  • Redacted Redacted on Aug 02, 2010

    Luckily as Americans, we actually have choice. To buy whatever we want, live where we want, say what we want, and do what we want. So, what difference does it make where the car was built, sourced, engineered, or designed. Spend your money on the vehicle that best suits your needs regardless of where it comes from if coming from one place even makes sense. But don't ever..ever..get satisfied in your choice as doing the right thing because it was right for America because it keeps some American jobs or because it rewards a superior foreign product so you'll spend less on maintenance and free up that money to spend on other things. The logic wormhole on rewarding one entity or punishing another entity because of your purchase of a specific vehicle flies in the face of the unfathomable, unbalanced, vertigo inducing economics of regulations, tariffs, subsidies, quotas, trade pacts, corporate ownership, taxes, election cycles, and of course greed.

  • Stingray Stingray on Aug 03, 2010

    I think the nationality of a car is given mostly by the country, philosophy and conditions for which it was designed. In this globalized world, all the things Mr. Baruth is requesting is near impossible. However you can see an American car and see how different is from a car designed outside the US. Examples: Dodge Neon. A compact car that is different from what an European or Japanese equivalent would be. Sadly, they replaced it with the POS Caliber, and soon with some Fiat derived car. And it had: space, fuel economy, style (the cab forward was latter copied by Honda) and nice handling if we can believe was has been written about it. Chevrolet Impala. As much as I don't like it being FWD, I can accept the fact that moving from RWD to FWD was produced by "evolution". Again, you won't be able to find a similar car outside US. ANY Full-size pick-up truck/BOF full size SUV: Do I need to explain? Chrysler Minivans: Those things are bigger and more comfortable than say a Lancia Phedra (which is comfortable too) or a Renault Space. If you compare it with a Toyota Previa, you'll see the difference in philosophies there too. Heavy duty trucks: COE designs are rather rare in US. Very popular and diffused in the rest of the world. Even Hino had to make a truck with a front end, I guess, to sell them. I'm not from the US, but usually try to purchase made in Venezuela goods as far as I can. Of course, I will not buy crap just because is made here. Two weeks ago I was at the supermarket and people was choosing imported cheese like the local made one was the plague (there was even one brand made by a government owned company). I purchased the local product, because it was good. Also because I help support those factories. I even try to purchase products made in my local town or state (even knowing how full of FAIL these places are) to support these people. Every time one person purchases one of the cars we assemble, they pay MY salary, and not the one from a Brazilian, Mexican or another country engineer. At least on the assembly side. And hence, I try to do my best so the product we produce has good quality and our customers are satisfied. Soon I'm moving to Oz (inshallah) and I've made a commitment to myself in purchasing a local engineered and assembled car. I like the Commodore and hopefully will be able to get a V8 version new before this "green" hysteria bans "popular" priced V8 cars from the market. And plan to do so on as many products as possible (as done here). Mr Baruth, purchasing your "dream" car will be next to impossible. However you can still purchase a US engineered car, from a US company with mostly US components, since all of them still have in the market a lot of examples. You may have to get to a compromise on the site of assembly.

  • JeremyR JeremyR on Aug 03, 2010

    I can't figure out what an "American" car is, so I don't try. Everyone has a different answer, and some will even try to rationalize why a built-in-Ohio Cruze is "American" whereas a built-in-Ohio Accord is not. A company doesn't earn my business merely due to the flag that flies above their headquarters. I buy what best suits my needs, regardless of label. Over the years this has included "American" cars built in the US or Canada, "Japanese" cars built in the US or Japan, a Swedish car built in Sweden, and "German" cars built in Hungary or Finland. My next car might be a Japanese built in Japan or perhaps an "American" built in Mexico. As a software developer, I am all too familiar with the reality of jobs in my industry being "offshored." But I don't expect customers to give me their business simply because of my nationality. If my competitors--many of which are based in "low-cost" countries--can do the same job more cost-effectively, I wouldn't expect to keep the job for long. Consequently, I need to continuously improve, to ensure that I am adding value over the competition. I expect that the automakers should behave no differently.

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