How's the PT-Cruiser??

That's not as significant as its being the product of a German company.

Dang! Goldurn! *aHyuck!* NASCAR is stupid.

DS

It's really become a question of "domestic brand" vs. "import brand", IMO. The important questions now are 'to where are the revenue dollars sent', and 'how are they spent'?

Car for car, more dollars stay in the USA when you buy a GM, Ford or "Chrysler" vehicle as opposed to a Toyota, Kia, or BMW, regardless of point of assembly. Mercedes is an interesting question (I don't know) and "captive" makes (such as Volvo, Jaguar, etc.) are also questionable. And of course, the unrestrained-free-trader set and the one-global-economy true believers will tell you that none of this matters. (Got your ears on, Chris? :-))

As long as the press still identifies it as the "American automobile industry," I'm going to take it as axiomatic that my dollars best benefit my local economy (Michigan) by purchasing the traditional domestic brands. Since good employment is hard to come by, I've become a firm believer in not whizzing in the pool in which I must swim. I recommend that everyone in the USA/NAFTA region do the same, and it is my heartfelt wish that they would.

Worrying about whether the thing was built with parts from, or assembled in, Mexico or China is a red herring designed to confuse the issue. Obviously, I would prefer 100% domestic content in a domestically-branded vehicle, but the current state of the stock market has f***ed us out of that possibility being realistic.

--Geoff

Even Toyota makes lemons once in a while.

Prove it. What a bunch of crap. I don't even agree with many CR reviews but this is slander.

You are mistaken. ABC was the one involved with Food Lion, not Consumer Reports. You obviously don't know what you are talking about.

Actually Toyota is having auto transmission parts built and assembled into fully AT's in the US. Not sure about engines. But arguably, a US built Toyota creates more jobs in the US (meaning money stays here) then a Canadian or Mexican built Chrysler.

possibility

You could argue that, I suppose. But you'd be wrong.

--Geoff

I'm hip to the meaning of the 'AG' behind DaimlerChrysler AG, and eventually what you're saying will be 100% true. I don't think it's quite there yet, though; there's still very significant staff, investment and sourcing that happens here. If it weren't for the trucks and minivans, I think we'd be talking about a purely all-German company by now. So are they as German as Volkswagen, say? In terms of where the dollars flow, I don't

*think* so, at least not in 2004. But I'd be convinced if somebody could show me (credibly) that the stock is more than 50% non-US owned.

But it's really academic, and maybe it's more of an emotional case -- Detroit has been very reluctant to give up the little brother of the "Big Three" to foreign ownership, at least in the way we think about it. All the local news media are still referring to that outfit with the big building out there in Auburn Hills as 'Chrysler', not DaimlerChrysler, with the exception of the folks giving the stock quotations.

My little nod to the merger is enclosing "Chrysler" in quotes, as you see above. Believe me, it hurts to have to do it.

--Geoff

Evidnetly not. Toyota is going to run in NASCAR next year.

They ran trucks at Daytona and will continue this year. They are trying to get into Nextel Cup by 2007, I heard. I assume they are thinking of the Camry, or maybe they have another vehicle "in the pipe" that will be built in the USofA.

Dan

Car for car, more dollars stay in the USA when you buy a GM, Ford or

Where do you get this nonsense? The largest cost for a car that is made in the U.S. is the high cost of labor - from the assembly to the managers to the maintainence crew to the shipping and supply chain, as well as the energy and materials used to run and build the factory.

All of that is also middle-class labor - a vital and shrinking segment of the U.S. economy that we need to protect. All fo them with a fat paycheck, btw - that gets spent in the local economy. $100 million goes in - $98 million+ gets spent by those employees. (rest is savings based upon how we don't bother to do so)

Let's not forget taxes, either. Those U.S. employees also pay a lot of taxes and fees. Take 50,000 of them away to Mexico or China and suddenly that's a chunk out of the state's economy and several towns or an entire county/township that's all but bankrupt. (see Flint, Michigan for an example of this)

Also, environmental laws and quality of life is a fraction of what it is in the U.S, once you cross over into Mexico. That water supplies go for sometimes hundreds of miles isn't even considered. Talk to the people of El Paso, Texas about how they feel about the situation right across the border.

What matters most is where that plant is and secondly, if it's not in the U.S. - that it's in a contry with equally high living standards so that we aren't dumbing down the workforce in our country or our allies'.

You'll note that while GM and Ford are building plants in China, Mexico, and wherever they can for cheap, Toyota and Honda are building them in the U.S. Evidently Toyota's not going bankrupt last I checked, so there's no reason GM anf Ford can't make their cars in the U.S. as well.

Our government should definately do something to stop this middle-class and high-tech bleed-off of jobs overseas, even if it means tarrifs and restrictions. The alternative is to turn into Mexico in 40-50 years. Very rich and the very poor.

For me, they're ALL that kind of thread.... I've been around long enough I thought everyone knew that ;-)

Nope, cars produced in Canada and Mexico are "domestic."

Yep, and it was absolutely hilarious reading about their T(u)RD engineers trying to figure out how to build a cast-iron pushrod v8 engine last year, and then showing up about 50 horsepower short at Daytona speedweeks. Count me in with Jimmy Spencer- I love watching Toyota get whipped.

Right! I care a lot less about where a company is headquartered OR where the (mostly automated) assembly lines are. I care most about where the engineering happens, and for the Dodge, Jeep, and (to a lesser degree) Chrysler components of DaimlerChrysler AG, that happens in Auburn Hills, Michigan. For now... :-/

Kinda reminds me of a food chain. How 'bout you?

It would have to be RWD, which might mean a new RWD vehicle for us here in the U.S. - maybe a RWD Avalon or simmilar.

Only on paper because of some weasel in Washongton changing the definition. Mexico is a third world country and is NOT even close to what we have here in the U.S. To call is equivalent is just plain nuts.