maverick4

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/..._picks/11.html

"This year's Consumer Reports Top Picks are all vehicles produced by Japanese companies. This is actually the second year in a row that that's been the case. In the 10 years that Consumer Reports has produced annual "Top Picks" lists, it's the fifth time there have been no American cars among them."

NASCAR country must be going nuts over this. They will buy Fords and Chevys until the day they die.

Fogbuster

This is something that has pissed me off about Detroit for the past 30 years, when the Japanese started making cars that were built to better tolerances and with more attention to details that people wanted in their cars. Detroit always made pretty strong cars -- the old flat 6's and V-8's were virtually bullet-proof -- but they kept making such pure crap from the 70's on, with so many defects and such poor quality control.

Then, when they got that improved, their design has been atrocious. The Japanese have led the way in designing and engineering cars better in *overall* quality for a long time.

Personally, I think the automotive industry got hijacked by the UAW a long time ago, and the manufacturers have never been able to catch up. So, you got guys making $30/hour for putting on a few bolts, but when they have to do it for hours on end, the quality is bound to go down. Then, they went to robotics and that just meant fewer jobs.

The US auto industry is in a bad way and playing catch-up to foreign car manufacturers now. Used to be the other way around. Big mistake, and now a big loss to America.


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Holy Diver

This is not surprising. I'd say the Union has something to do with it, but a lot of the blame has to go around for our once proud auto industry.

Its like the NBA. We invent the game, start going flashy with the Diunks and no lok passes (SUV) while the exported game relies on fundamentals, and quality.

Pretty soon we lose the gold medal, and everyone is shocked.

Fogbuster

Good analogy. Great analogy. What's it gonna take!!


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Holy Diver

Yao, Dirk, Nash.....they all need a guest worker program.

QuiGon

The Big-3 American car makers are pretty hypocritical over the whole thing. They prey on our patriotism to buy and drive American, and all the while they move their factories to Mexico. Meanwhile, Japanese manufacturers (Honda and Toyota) have each opened up factories recently here in the good ole' U.S. of A.

The day is rapidly approaching (if it isn't already here) where Japanese car companies employ more American factory workers than Ford/Chevy/Dodge.

patsfan13

THe big 3 made some really bad deals with the UAW in the 50's & 60's now the crows are coming home to roost.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Pujo

We should not allow consumer reports to degrade our country in a time of war. Free speech should have limits.

Real World

Unions, terrible designs, and an overall inferior product are to blame. I'll say this though, I've read that some of the newest model american vehicles are pretty good. The Lincoln Mercury vehicles, and the Fushion from Ford got real good marks. The problem is that with 10+ years of bad vehicles, who's going to notice?

I drive American BTW. I bought a '93 Sentra when I was 19 (new) after having a, '86 Buick Skyhawk for 3 years. Talk about a lemon. That Buick sucked. Anyhow, I then bought a '96 Infiniti off my Mom, which was one unbelievable car. Turn the key and go. Never a problem. I now drive an '04 Grand Cherokee. I love the thing. It's had 2 recalls though in the 1 1/2 years I've owned it. Not sure if it had others when the first owner had it.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

maverick4

An example of the mentality and xenophobia of NASCAR country towards Japanese cars:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/17/op...erland&emc=rss

"It’s the Daytona 500, the kickoff to the Nascar season, and for the first time in Nascar’s history Dodge, Chevy and Ford will be joined by ... Toyota. Japan’s biggest car company, which is poised to overtake General Motors as the largest car manufacturer in the world, has entered the hallowed tracks and pit rows of that most American of race circuits, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. But to hear some Nascar fans talk, when those engines fire up it will be Dec. 7, 1941, all over again.

The war metaphors have been brought to the fore by Jack Roush, a prominent racing team owner. Other Nascar columnists, pundits and fans, even a Web site dedicated to being “against racing Toyotas,” have chimed in against the auto maker’s entry into Nascar.

One person wrote that “we don’t need any foreign nameplate in Nascar.” Others have taken up the “if you love them so much go live in Japan” theme and, curiously, wondered that if the Iraqis built a car would drivers of Japanese cars “become fans of the terrorists?”

The drivers hired by Toyota have been subject to the same opprobrium. Dale Jarrett, whom Nascar has named one of the 50 greatest drivers in its history, has been called a sell-out. Michael Waltrip, a Daytona winner, has been invited to “leave America” with his Japanese truck. (His recent woes at Daytona, including accusations that his team was cheating during qualifying, have only increased the vitriol.) Nor have the up-and-comers Brian Vickers and Jeremy Mayfield been spared. In blogs and on fan sites all have been characterized as traitors for driving “rice burners.”"