Save a Job Buy American

[wpage]

They can keep thier station wagon looking euro & rice burning commie junk. Support our UAW boys. The job you save may someday be your own! H3 is some good US tech stuff. Try a mod on a Honda pilot or Subaru see what you get. Nada!

[fourfourto]

On the bottom of my H3 cubby tray in console it say's
MADE IN MEXICO

[marin8703]

On overy sticker i find on the H3 it sais Made in Mexico!

[HummBebe]

Originally Posted by wpage

They can keep thier station wagon looking euro & rice burning commie junk. Support our UAW boys. The job you save may someday be your own! H3 is some good US tech stuff. Try a mod on a Honda pilot or Subaru see what you get. Nada!

Troll??? Or AE???....time for a poll???

[DDWH]

Originally Posted by HummBebe

Troll??? Or AE???....time for a poll???

BOTH!

Agreed, both.

S.

[Sewie]

Originally Posted by DDWH

BOTH!

I hope so, for his sake. It's sad to think that someone could really be that stupid.

[wpage]

Yo mama's a Troll yo Papa a as*hole. Who cares!!

[f5fstop]

No vehicle is made with 100% USA parts. However, US companies do use more US content than most of the transplant vehicles made in this country. The H3 has a large US/Canadian content...
Engine
Trans,
T/case
Axles
But, even though I work for GM, I say we have a free market, and my TVs, Stereos, Cameras are all made in other countries, so I really can't say buy American. Then again, the UAW boys and girls didn't care about buying American when the large influx of Japanese appliances hit our shores years ago, and many lost their jobs due to people purchasing foreign made products.
I guess the saying, what goes around, comes around.

[PARAGON]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

No vehicle is made with 100% USA parts. However, US companies do use more US content than most of the transplant vehicles made in this country. The H3 has a large US/Canadian content...
Engine
Trans,
T/case
Axles
But, even though I work for GM, I say we have a free market, and my TVs, Stereos, Cameras are all made in other countries, so I really can't say buy American. Then again, the UAW boys and girls didn't care about buying American when the large influx of Japanese appliances hit our shores years ago, and many lost their jobs due to people purchasing foreign made products.
I guess the saying, what goes around, comes around.

Thank you.

I'm all for buying and support American made products. I AM NOT for supporting American made Unions. There WAS a need and use for them at one time but they evolved into their own business that is worried about the Union, not the worker.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by PARAGON

Thank you.

I'm all for buying and support American made products. I AM NOT for supporting American made Unions. There WAS a need and use for them at one time but they evolved into their own business that is worried about the Union, not the worker.

I totally agree with that....

[Huck BB62]

Originally Posted by PARAGON

Thank you.

I'm all for buying and support American made products. I AM NOT for supporting American made Unions. There WAS a need and use for them at one time but they evolved into their own business that is worried about the Union, not the worker.

I love it, 40 hour work weeks, benefits, yeah, those were given out because of the goodness of the corporate hearts. Okeeeee dokee. We had a vote to go union here or not. The plants that DID, still have their retirement, and medical benefits. Our folks, neither. That's all I need to know.

[mountainbiker]

I had a dream last night. I was driving a huge All-American built SUV with a petrol-free engine going 80 mph and "big footing" little punk-ass 2.0L cars. Then I woke up.

I never took any economics classes in university, but it prob would be interesting to find a class geared around this "Buy American" subject. Let me throw a few more things out there just to make our heads hurt.

1. Have you ever travelled to Japan. How many American cars do you see on their roads? You think there are many American cars in France? Here in Germany the majority I would say are German. In fact, the taxis here are even Mers, BMWs, and Audis.

2. What is an "American car"? Have you seen vehicles under Ford? Do you think of Jaguar or Landrover as American? Is the definition of an "American car" is one built in America on American soil? That would mean Toyota USA, etc. are "American cars". Is the Dodge Charger a remake of an "American car"? Or is it a car with a German engine built by a company with a large German shareholder? Okay, now on to our babies, HUMMER. HUMMER built by GM. An international car company that makes cars across the world. Have you heard of Vaxihall and Opel? Do they sound like GM products?

3: I was just visiting my home (VA Beach, VA) on home leave, and it was fun to see the number of pickup trucks and SUVs. It was also nice to see gas at the mid $2 mark. Now, move over to Europe -- where gas varies from $7-9 a gallon (granted a lot of this is tax) -- and you don't see the same volume of trucks and SUVs. The volume here is with vehicles and engines under 2.0L, e.g., Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Micra, Mini Cooper, etc. Are our "Amercian companies" competing well in this international market place? (I hope they are.)

I know what we are all trying to say here. I too would like to buy American and keep America the great place it is. Even though we are now in a global market place, there must be steps that can be taken to help.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by mountainbiker

I had a dream last night. I was driving a huge All-American built SUV with a petrol-free engine going 80 mph and "big footing" little punk-ass 2.0L cars. Then I woke up.

I never took any economics classes in university, but it prob would be interesting to find a class geared around this "Buy American" subject. Let me throw a few more things out there just to make our heads hurt.

1. Have you ever travelled to Japan. How many American cars do you see on their roads? You think there are many American cars in France? Here in Germany the majority I would say are German. In fact, the taxis here are even Mers, BMWs, and Audis. There definitely is a problem with selling vehicles in other countries. Japanese tend to be very patriotic and buy Japanese built cars. Then there is the way the country sets their own money rates, China is a good example. Also, there is a problem with import duties, where many countries charge large fees and the US does not.
2. What is an "American car"? Have you seen vehicles under Ford? Do you think of Jaguar or Landrover as American? Is the definition of an "American car" is one built in America on American soil? That would mean Toyota USA, etc. are "American cars". Is the Dodge Charger a remake of an "American car"? Or is it a car with a German engine built by a company with a large German shareholder? Okay, now on to our babies, HUMMER. HUMMER built by GM. An international car company that makes cars across the world. Have you heard of Vaxihall and Opel? Do they sound like GM products? My opinion of an America car is a car built by a USA firm somewhere in the Americas. Even those built in Canada and Mexico, by the US companies tend to have higher USA built content. Transplants do employee US employees, but tend to use less total US content. Just my opinion.
3: I was just visiting my home (VA Beach, VA) on home leave, and it was fun to see the number of pickup trucks and SUVs. It was also nice to see gas at the mid $2 mark. Now, move over to Europe -- where gas varies from $7-9 a gallon (granted a lot of this is tax) -- and you don't see the same volume of trucks and SUVs. The volume here is with vehicles and engines under 2.0L, e.g., Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Micra, Mini Cooper, etc. Are our "Amercian companies" competing well in this international market place? (I hope they are.)
You ever see Opel or Vauxhaull in Europe? Those are both GM owned Corporations, and I believe they have a very large share of the Market. Saab is owned by GM. GM of China is a growing money making concern for GM. I believe they are number one in Asia with VW breathing down their neck.
GM is also very large in South Africa and Asia, including the middle east, as well as Brazil.
I know what we are all trying to say here. I too would like to buy American and keep America the great place it is. Even though we are now in a global market place, there must be steps that can be taken to help.

Can we take steps, sure, but the biggest hurdle we have now is the Union and their refusal to face the facts. Look at Delphi, American Axle, Lear, Crown, etc. These are large US suppliers who need to have their US wages lowered, but are meeting resistance from the Union.

[Wisha Haddan H3]

My 2 cents ... I like the idea of buying American, but only when it makes sense. As I see it, American quality is the only reason to buy American.

It's counterproductive to bail out companies that make POS products. It wastes everyone's time and money and makes the company weaker in the global marketplace. Companies that can't compete don't deserve to survive. Competition is necessary to make them cut costs and improve quality, but it's only possible when people are willing to shop the competition.

Don't get me wrong. I want American companies to succeed. But if they can't keep their act together, they have to face the consequences. Poor planning, poor management, and especially poor quality don't deserve my business just because they're American. In fact, it's a sad day when high cost, weak design and poor quality are the hallmarks of an American industry that only survives because of national loyalty.

That was the case in the US auto industry during the 70s and 80s, and after 2 decades of quality improvement, the Big 3 still haven't recovered their reputation or market share. Only now on the brink of bankruptcy are the Big 3 finally breaking the union's stranglehold on production and other fixed costs to take advantage of their improvements in design, efficiency and quality. GM's new 2007 warranty program is the latest sign that the quality of American vehicles has never been higher than it is today. But this only happened because people spent their money somewhere else ... not because we bought American no matter what.

When I bought my H3, I didn't have to compromise quality or price to buy American and I like that. The H3 was worth my hard-earned money on its own merit, for its own quality, features, fit and finish. GM can be proud to have earned my business, but they'll only earn my loyalty as they continue to build vehicles worth buying.

[H3.007]

I grew up in a Union family so I have seen the pros and cons. My family always had health insurance and decent wages for blue collar laborers. Recently, the plant went to private ownership, non-union ownership. The wages dropped slightly and the costs of health care were passed onto employees. Earned benefits for retirees also were cut! However, I have a non-Union job and I make much more than my folks ever did. But, I also see where people get more easily screwed in non-bargaining positions (i.e. in my current employer), because they don't "kiss the right cheeks", "lick the right gumball", attend the right parties, or have the right set of genitals- and this regardless of education, experience, or proven on-the-job ability and potential. And to think that I had to go into education debt for life just to have a job where I could pay it back and get screwed out of promotions because of my gender, my chosen manner of socialization, and the vehicle I drive (oh - he drives a Hummer 3 - so he is rich, single, without kids, thus he doesn't deserve the promotion; let's give it to the poor, twice divorced, single-mother valley girl who has half the education and proven track record). Yeah - ok - I have issues- only in Pennsylvania.

Having said that, the major problem with our economy is that we, as a country and government, have not forced reciprocation of our trade policies.
Until we do, we will be forced to compete with countries that treat their people like commodities in order to under-cut us. I agree with the quality and competitiveness issues, but again, they will ultimately be meaningless unelss we can equalize our foreign trade practices.

I believe that is the bottom line.