Thursday, February 19, 2009

Cars - BuyAmericanMidMO

BuyAmericanMidMO

I don't begrudge someone for wanting to support the U.S. What I don't care for is this commercial sponsored by some of our local car dealers (Beck Motors, Inc., California Ford-Mercury, Carroll-Rehma Motors, Inc., Fairground Auto Plaza, Forrest Chevrolet, JE Cadle Chevrolet, Keen Ford, Keith Beck Auto Group, Lloyd Belt GM Center, Inc., Maczuk Chevrolet, Mike Kehoe Auto Group, Miller Chrysler Dodge Jeep,Inc, Ozark Ford Lincoln Mercury, Pearl Motor Company, Putnam Chevrolet-Pontiac, Rick Ball Auto Mall, Royal Automotive, Inc., Spieler's, Inc., Weidinger Chevrolet, Inc.) that would lead one to believe that the so called U.S. automakers make all of their cars in the U.S. and all of their money stays in the U.S.

Come on local auto dealerships. Your commercial just puts you in line with the old stereotype of a used car salesman, that will say anything to make the sale.

As you show in one of the commercials the World Headquarters for the Big Three might be in Detroit, which makes the point, these are not just U.S. companies, but global companies.

Let's see, the makes listed on the Ford site, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo and not in the too distant past, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Aston Martin. Yeah, all of those sound American don't they. And lets see, GM has makes like SAAB, Holden, Opel, and Vauxhall in their stable. For some reason I don't see them listed on the signs at my local dealerships.

All the money going to Detroit. Yeah right. Like you aren't getting a cut.

I believe it is at an assembly plant in Hermosillo that Ford is producing the rather popular Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr. Yeah, that is really doing a lot for autoworkers in the U.S. isn't it.

Hmm, maybe it is a bit outdated (2005), but this BusinessWeek article points out that:

Three-quarters of Mexican-made vehicles are exported to the U.S., largely by Detroit's Big Three but also by German giant Volkswagen.


A more recent article, What makes a car American? dated 12/12/08, on CNN doesn't reflect much better:

But buying a car to benefit the U.S. economy has become an ambiguous, complicated challenge.

"How you define an American car is one of the great conundrums of this world," said Dutch Mandel, the editor and associate publisher of AutoWeek.

Fewer than half of the parts on some Big Three vehicles are made in the U.S.

Looking at a Ford Fusion? It is assembled in Mexico. The Chrysler 300C is assembled in Canada, but its transmission is from Indiana; the brand's V-8 engine is made in Mexico. Engines in the Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle are from China.

On the other hand, Toyota's Camry is comprised 80 percent of parts made in the United States, and 56 percent of Toyota's vehicles sold in the U.S. also are made here...


As Dutch Mandel would say, but wait there's more:

Let's look at Cars.com list of "What Are the Top American-Made Cars":

It looks as though three of the so-called top American made cars are from foreign companies headquartered in Japan. Hmm, how could that be.

With bailouts, etc. don't try to make it sound as though the Big Three are innocent bystanders that they deserve my money (as in purchasing from you, let alone my tax dollars) because of economic bad times and that they, and you are my best friend. Just like the car salesmen years ago that slapped the magnetic license plate onto the trunk lid of a Fiero, headed over to put some gas in it, and didn't understand why I was holding the plate when he returned (magnets don't stick real good to fiberglass), maybe you just don't know your product, or like the salesmen trying to sell me an Audi with a 4 cylinder when I knew it had a 5 cylinder, you are just trying to sell me a different story than what I know.

You dealerships are just like the Big Three, in business to make money and marketing is a large part of it. Well, you probably have some people feeling sorry for you.

Now wait a second, all the big "American" deal, but what is that I see over on one of your used lot I pass on the way to work, is that an Audi, and several Hondas, some Mazdas, a couple of Mitsubishis, some Nissans and a Toyota thrown in for good measure. Let's see, if I step on to your used lot, are you going to tell me not to buy them?

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