American cars that... aren't

[Paco Lopez]

So I've been sitting around for the last 2.5 months with a broken foot and boredom leads to strange things. After the GM and Chrysler bailout, cash for clunkers, and pundits shouting that we should support the American auto industry while the top car that people buy with clunker money is a dirty foreign Toyota I got in the habit whenever a commercial for an American car comes on I check to see where it's built.

I think everybody knows that Dodge had a few cars back in the 90s (Stealth, Raider, Laser) that were rebadged Mitsubishis (3000GT, Montero, Eclipse), but some of these may be surprising:

Ford Taurus, Lincoln MKS, and Mercury Sable are based on the Volvo S80 designed before Ford bought Volvo.

Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, and Mercury Milan are last year's Mazda 6, and they're built in Mexico.

Dodge Charger/Magnum and Chrysler 300: front of a Mercedes S-class the rear of an E-class, with a Mercedes transmission and rear-end, built in Canada.

Chevy Aveo and Pontiac G3: Daewoo Kalos, built in Korea.

Cadillac Catera: Opel Omega, built in Germany.

Next year's Cadillac SRX will be built in Mexico.

Pontiac Vibe: Toyota Matrix

Pontiac GTO and G8: Holden Monaro and Commodore, built in Australia

Even the new Camaro was designed by Holden in Australia and is being built in Canada.

Meanwhile BMW, Subaru, Toyota, and Honda are all building cars in the US.

Kind of makes you think twice about that whole "Buy American" thing.

[Magilla]

thought this was common knowledge

[Paco Lopez]

thought this was common knowledge

Based on the number of people shouting "Buy American" on TV and complaining about how most of the Cash for Clunkers dollars are going to Toyota and Honda rather than GM and Chrysler I don't think it is.

I guess the point that people seem to be missing is that if you buy a "foreign" Corolla you're putting food on the table for a factory worker in California, but if you buy a good old fashioned American muscle car like a Charger or Camaro you're putting food on the table for a factory worker in Canada.

Or maybe all those gasbags on the TV just like to hear themselves talk and will make a crisis out of whatever they can to get their ratings up.

[Adam]

Yeah it always make me chuckle inside when people still call Toyotas and Hondas "jap crap", or any similar variation, when American companies have been outsourcing their products, and "foreign" companies have been building more production plants stateside than the "American" car makers have been in years. Not to mention making more reliable, fuel efficient cars, while keeping more of the work in the United States.

[grundlepunch]

truth....

[Ruecifur]

toyota trucks are built in the USA LOL

[Buffalo Phil]

toyota trucks are built in the USA LOL

A lot of the guys that I've talked to want to buy Toyota Trucks because they are built in the USA in NON-UNION plants.

[1cleantj]

Based on the number of people shouting "Buy American" on TV and complaining about how most of the Cash for Clunkers dollars are going to Toyota and Honda rather than GM and Chrysler I don't think it is.

I guess the point that people seem to be missing is that if you buy a "foreign" Corolla you're putting food on the table for a factory worker in California, but if you buy a good old fashioned American muscle car like a Charger or Camaro you're putting food on the table for a factory worker in Canada.

Or maybe all those gasbags on the TV just like to hear themselves talk and will make a crisis out of whatever they can to get their ratings up.

they may be assembled in the USA, but all the parts still come from over sea's , plus all the money being made is still being sent over seas

[Buffalo Phil]

they may be assembled in the USA, but all the parts still come from over sea's , plus all the money being made is still being sent over seas

OK, so all that money, the profit, is being sent overseas, but the workers still have jobs, the workers still get paid and the US government still gets tax money, both on the manufacture and sale of the vehicles that these companies make. They don't have big land lines from China or Japan either, they are using Electricity produced by our power plants as well.

You make it seem like these companies are stealing money from us when they simply aren't. Industry is Industry, and no matter where the profits in the end go, you have to look at where the profits are made. Even if those profits find their way back to the Land of the Rising Sun, those profits can always come right back to us in forms of more plants that create more jobs for American Workers.

[XJLI]

i will purchase whoever makes a quality product, regardless of where its made, where my money goes, how its made, who makes it, and logos it bears.

that being said if i need to buy a new truck i'd get a yota, new car it would be a subaru, new SUV it would be a jeep.

[Ruecifur]

they may be assembled in the USA, but all the parts still come from over sea's , plus all the money being made is still being sent over seas

we no longer function in a single economy. "free trade" has opened up borders and we pretty much practice a global economy. Think of gasoline. our gas and oil come from the middle east, but it is harvested, processed, packaged and delivered by american companies. the people of the middle east (aside from a few at the top) never see a dime of that money.

[Chaos]

I'll never buy a new car.....You never know who the fuck makes it...

My 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T Coupe was just a Mitsu Eclipse with a trunk, but was made in Normal,Illinois

Pre 1970.....wheres my general

[Pedro]

OK, so all that money, the profit, is being sent overseas, but the workers still have jobs, the workers still get paid and the US government still gets tax money, both on the manufacture and sale of the vehicles that these companies make. They don't have big land lines from China or Japan either, they are using Electricity produced by our power plants as well.

You make it seem like these companies are stealing money from us when they simply aren't. Industry is Industry, and no matter where the profits in the end go, you have to look at where the profits are made. Even if those profits find their way back to the Land of the Rising Sun, those profits can always come right back to us in forms of more plants that create more jobs for American Workers.

bingo

[XJcrazy00]

Pontiac GTO and G8: Holden Monaro and Commodore, built in Australia
Even the new Camaro was designed by Holden in Australia and is being built in Canada

Holden is owned by General Motors, so who cares where it was designed.

And the vibe/matrix is a product of both companies. I'm pretty sure I'm right when I say they worked on it together.

Either way, it'd depressing that the G3 is made in korea, but it makes sense, because GM does own daewoo.

[WTNFDXJ]

ill add my contributon to this my merkur xr4ti... made by ford but marketed as a merkur under the mercury name...