Driving through the city on a typical day, it sickens me to see so many imported cars on the roads, especially in this economic climate. What happened the times when Americans used to be proud of this great country and the things that we make here? With the recent technology of the past few years there is even more incentive for Americans to buy high quality American car made right here in the United States. Why buy a foreign vehicle and support a foreign economy when domestic vehicles are just as nice if not better, and will improve the US economy? We should be supporting our American auto industry instead of making it worse. There are nearly one million auto manufacturing jobs (directly and indirectly employed by American automakers) in the US at risk of being lost if we quit making cars in the US. That’s just less than 1% of the labor force in the US, and 6.6% of the US manufacturing work force. Hypothetically, if all the jobs were lost at once, then that would raise the unemployment rate by just less than 1%. Most Auto manufacturing happens in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. From 2004 to 2009, these three states have lost an estimated 152,000 automotive manufacturing jobs (Platzer, Glennon 2).
There are many old myths of why imported cars are better, which today are untrue. It wasn’t long ago that most foreign cars were more fuel efficient and cost less than the domestic equivalent, but with the recent technology and the new market for fuel efficient vehicles, the American companies have stepped up to the plate, and brought us good, fuel efficient, economic cars, and heavy-duty, “what-we-have-been-asking-for”, trucks. More companies are turning out efficient gas, turbo-diesel, electric, and hybrid cars because of the recent rising fuel costs, and economic downturn. Americans are now trying to save as much money and resources as possible, and Chevrolet and Ford have kicked up the competition to meet the needs of the consumers of the twenty-first century.
For example, Chevrolet is now producing 3 cars that get over 40 miles per gallon on the highway. I am denoting the base MSRP price in parenthesis. The Chevrolet Sonic, ($ 13,865) at 40 mpg hwy; The Chevrolet Cruze Eco ($19,325) at 42 mpg highway; and the electric Chevrolet Volt, which goes 35 miles on a charge and has a gas generator that gets an equivalent of 47 mpg. The average American has a commute of 16 miles (ABC). The Volt will take an average American to and from work on a single charge. The Ford Motor Company is also making 3 cars that get over 40 miles per gallon highway, the Focus, Fusion Hybrid, and Fiesta. These compare to the Toyota Yaris ($14,115) with 38mpg hwy; the Toyota Corolla ($16,130) at 34 mpg hwy; The Toyota Camry ($21,955) at 35 mpg hwy. The only* car manufacturer with a car comparable with price and fuel efficiency is the Honda Civic ($15,605) with 39 mpg hwy. There is a clear choice in fuel efficiency and cost between the examples here. You can see that the Chevrolets used as my example cost less and get better fuel mileage than its Toyota counterparts. I used these examples because they are the leaders in popularity, according to Consumer Reports. (Sources Toyota.com, Chevrolet.com, Ford.com, Honda)
When discussing cars with other people, I always hear the excuse that foreign cars, Toyota in particular, last longer than any other car on the road. There is no solid statistical data to be found about how long a car will last, because it depends on many circumstances, like how the car is driven, where it is driven, what it is used for, and how well it is maintained. I have found that how long most cars will last directly depends on the maintenance performed during its life. There are exceptions in poorly designed vehicles. In my time doing service part-time on vehicles, I personally have seen Toyota, Honda, GM, and Ford vehicles last well over 300,000 miles on original engines, transmissions, and bodies. There are always service parts that need replaced by that time on all makes, but with servicing and maintenance at correct intervals, most makes of cars can last a very long time. There is a reason that manufacturers have recommended service intervals. Consumer Reports have listed Toyota, Ford, Honda, and GM the best perceived vehicles of 2012. All in all, the difference in quality and longevity is minimal.
There are some parts on US cars that are outsourced for more efficient production. For example, the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, has 60% domestic part content, the rest of which is made elsewhere, in places like Austria, but it is assembled in Ohio. Some people use this as an excuse to say that US cars are foreign also. Yes it happens, but the majority of the vehicle is made in the United States, and sometimes Canada by the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). It still is an American vehicle, with profit going to America, and not Asian countries. The UAW workers who assemble the vehicles get paid good wages, in good working conditions, and spend their money in the US economy (UAW.org).
Honda and Toyota both have manufacturing and assembly plants numbering in the double digits, located all over the world. Their focus is not in a single place and is spread out. American companies are dedicated to serving their country of origin with 28 assembly plants, with an average of 67% of their vehicle content of US origin. This is compared to the foreign companies 18 assembly plants in the US, and 33% of their vehicle content of US origin. “A typical plant employs about 2,000 workers, requires $1 billion or more in capital investment, and encourages suppliers to build their factories nearby.” The numbers will show who does more to support the American Economy (Scorecard).
The direct employment of American automakers in 2009 is 155,500, compared to the foreign automakers 100,000. Why do Ford, GM, and Chrysler support so many more jobs? It is because they do their research, design, and engineering here in the US, while the others do not. “Each one of these jobs at auto plants, labs and offices supports more than 9 other jobs in the surrounding community. A good way to judge a company’s commitment to U.S. investment is to measure how many of the cars that it sells here are also assembled here”. In 2009, American companies made 67% of its cars in the US, and foreign companies assembled 43% of their cars in the US (Scorecard).
Jobs for Americans are the most important reason to buy an American car. Not long ago the unemployment rate neared 10% and is now 8.3%, and people are still struggling to stay afloat and keep their families fed and keep a roof over their head. There are nearly one million American jobs in auto manufacturing alone. We need to keep those jobs in the United States to keep our economy on track and climbing out of the economic recession. “We’re Americans, and we are assisting American skilled workers and an industry that is essential to our nation’s economic recovery, as well as one potentially significant to our national security (as it was in World War II) (Karlin, Mark, Marr).” Be proud of your American car; feel proud about helping your country, your environment, and keeping the leg room in your American car.
*only car out of the 2 foreign manufacturers researched
