New meaning to the term 'foreign cars'
I went shopping for a new Honda the other day. After checking out the price, gas mileage and features on one of them, I noticed the sticker provided information about what percentage of the parts were made in what countries, where the car was assembled and where the engines and transmissions were manufactured.
Surprisingly, there was substantial variation among models. In the CR-V SUV, for instance, most of the parts were made in the U.S. and Canada. The engine was made in Japan. The tranmission was made in Indonesia - yes, Indonesia. And the car was assembled in Wiltshire County, England - home to Stonehenge and Honda's giant Swindon plant.
In many of the other models, the majority of the parts came from Japan, but most of the Assembly work was done in Ohio.
Japanese cars continue to get the highest ratings from consumers. Maybe it's time to start giving some of the credit to the U.S., England and Indonesia.
Surprisingly, there was substantial variation among models. In the CR-V SUV, for instance, most of the parts were made in the U.S. and Canada. The engine was made in Japan. The tranmission was made in Indonesia - yes, Indonesia. And the car was assembled in Wiltshire County, England - home to Stonehenge and Honda's giant Swindon plant.
In many of the other models, the majority of the parts came from Japan, but most of the Assembly work was done in Ohio.
Japanese cars continue to get the highest ratings from consumers. Maybe it's time to start giving some of the credit to the U.S., England and Indonesia.
posted by Randy Bergmann at 9:07 AM
3 Comments:
What makes a car a "foreign" car? I have a Ford, made in Ontario, and my girlfriend has a Honda, made in Tennessee. Ford, of course, is headquarted in Detroit, and Honda in Tokyo. But aren't those companies publicly-traded? I'll bet many owners of Ford stock are Japanese, and many owners of Honda stock are Americans.
Your right that the majority of Japanese cars sold in the US are assembled in the US . It cannot get much better than that . Parts will always be from Japan ,and that is just the way it will stay (forever). I did a poli sci paper for the same class in the early 90's and my sugggestion was that the best we could do is to get them(japs) to build assembly plants in the US . I have still not bought a Japanese car due to the fact that I don't believe the trade deficit with Japan is way unblanced . However even though I say that I really mean that I will never buy a Japanese car until they(japs) admit in both publically and in their own history text books that they were wrong in the way they pursued WW2 . I am not going to hold my breath on either one !
Brian, I'd love to know where you got the mistaken notion that Japan has never apologized for WWII. They've done so several times. Here's an article mentioning several of their public apologies:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/book/20060319TDY20001.htm
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