Mike E:
This thread sort of died-down. Just for the record, as I think there is a HUGE misconception:
The Toyota Tacoma is ASSEMBLED in Fremont, CA - very close to my old hometown. The parts are still mostly JAPANESE. Product control is JAPANESE and market share is thereby granted to a JAPANESE company. Revenue from sells flows to a JAPANESE corporation.
Police forces still buy Ford & GM for good reason. Wall Street Journal and most major publications do an annual power rankings report on both domestic and foreign companies. Ford and GM are listed as AMERICAN and Toyota is still indeed JAPANESE.
When you buy a Toyota, you may offer assembly, supplier, and support jobs to Americans; plus some of the design is done stateside.
If the USA eventually only assembles Toyotas, Hondas, and BMWs, then we are relegated to a 2nd-tier manufacturer. We are no longer the "braintrust" behind engineering, innovating, and ultimately controlling the production of automotive products. Instead, we rely on the foreign brands to grant permission for us to assemble and take part in their products.
I don't know about you, but as an American; we shouldn't be relegated to assembling foreign nameplates. We're not a 2nd-tier nation and I'd hate to see it come to that.
I give my loyalty, support, and pride to American nameplates because contrary to the myths it still matters. Not all parts on a Chevy truck are American, but the positives still lean further in our favor versus a Toyota that's assembled in California, yet still under Japanese control. Toyota saves money by shipping parts versus fully assembled units, plus they undercut the import ceiling that was establsihed many years ago.
So, my overlying issue is when you make a comment like the Toyota is MADE in the USA! Yes, assembled, but it is NOT American and it never will be. They can ship all the parts from Tokyo to my backyard, but I'd still call it a Japanese product; not coming from my countrymen in terms of innovation, control, and worldwide recognition to boot.
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