Why I Don’t “Buy American”.
Posted on | September 25, 2008 |
GM has a radio ad for the new Saturn Astra compact which uses a “neutral transmission” at stops and gets 30 MPG highway. Why is this the best U.S. auto manufacturers can do ? It’s pathetic. My 1999 Honda Civic gets 34 and it’s a vanilla (10 year old!) 4 cylinder!
Here’s my thinking on patriotic consumerism:
I buy the best product. Period.
I think that’s best for a free market.
If you want people to buy your product, be better than the competition. It’s that simple. Of course “better” is a complex result that represents a myriad of smaller aspects of a product, such as price, construction, performance, etc..
I would prefer that the best product in a given market is American made, but don’t think you can phone it in, give me some sub-standard product and expect me to buy it just because it’s made in America. You still need to earn it, damn it.
As an American, I don’t want people to buy American products because they were made by Americans. I want Americans to make the best products, and have people buy American because it’s built to last, out performs and is fairly priced.
Let’s consider automobiles, because it seems to be one of the few things that are sometimes still made in America ever since manufacturing made a mass exodus to cheaper and less regulated locales overseas.
Personal Experience.
I’ve owned 4 cars in my life. The first 2 were American made (Buick and Ford). The last 2 have been foreign (Hondas and Subaru). The Buick was a piece of junk, I’m sad to say. It topped out at 89,000 miles. The ford made it to 109,000 miles before it basically rusted away around me. I was told by the mechanic that it was quite exceptional to break the 100k mark in a ford. This did not make me feel better.
The Honda is my commuter car. It’s not as spacious and luxurious as my Buick was, but it gets 34 mpg, just broke the 145,000 mile mark and is still going strong. In fact, a mechanic recently told me it was “just broken in.” The Subaru is our family car. It’s got many warts. Those are the result of striking a deer, and having children. It’s recently hit the 119,000 mile mark and is still plugging away. I should say that the Subaru is an Outback, is a 1999 and gets better gas mileage than many automobiles domestic manufacturers are touting today as “efficient” - and that’s with full time all wheel drive!
Anecdotal Experience.
On our recent camping trip I was lamenting the fact that foreign cars are just plain better than domestic, despite the price. One of our friends told us the story of his Dodge Neon. He absolutely loved that car and was quite upset when he had to buy a new car, but he had little choice. It needed more repairs than it was worth and he had to trade it in. The dealer actually told him the car had been very good to him at 79,000 miles. Yes, you read that right. 79,000 miles.
I had a co-worker last year who owns a Ford Taurus. He’s had to effect major repairs on this car over the past year. Something to the tune of $2,000. He was just told that it needed a new transmission. It has something just shy of 100,000 miles on it. He’s a middle-aged, father of 2 and does not drive like he’s qualifying for Nascar.
Now, I know that these are probably not what would be termed the statistical norm, but the track record is not a good one in my experience. And it’s about the same for everyone I talk to.
The Problem.
So, American made cars suck. But why?
Well, let’s look a GM. General Motors was once the icon of American engineering. The pinnacle of automotive excellence in the world. General Motors has bet the farm on it’s line of trucks and SUV’s. There’s nothing wrong with that - as long as that’s what is selling. It doesn’t take a genius to see that with gasoline at $4 per gallon, trucks and SUV’s have lost their luster. It also didn’t take a clairvoyant to see this a few years ago.
So, I suppose at some level management is to blame. But so are the Unions in my opinion.
According to an article in the NYT from 2005, G. M. and Union in a Deal to Cut Health Benefits :
“It will also cut G. M.’s annual health care expenses by $3 billion before taxes, and save it about $1 billion a year of cash, out of a nearly $6 billion annual medical bill.”
That’s essentially $6 BILLION in the hole that GM began each year with prior to this agreement. This has led some to ponder whether GM is an auto manufacturer, or a health care provider. Still, acerbic commentary aside you can see that you’ve got a company in highly competitive sector playing with a deck stacked against them. And that’s not taking into account the cost of Union Strikes.
Your Take.
What’s your take on all this?
Am I way off base? Am I basing this on flimsy evidence and dealing with data that’s out dated? Please tell me that U.S. Auto makers have turned the corner, gotten their collective act together and are on the fast track to marketplace supremacy once more. Please.
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3 Responses to “Why I Don’t “Buy American”.”
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September 25th, 2008 @ 10:00 am
Well said
December 28th, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
As usual, everyone wants the cheapest cars and the best running cars. They say Unions are to blame. Just remember– Unions are not the Grossly overpaid executives who make the decisions as to what products will be made and out of what materials made from what quality!!! Unions are also not the engineers that design American made cars that don’t perform well. But Unions are hard-working people who put in 30 yrs worth of loyal service, forgoing holidays, children’s activities and vacations while wealthy executives reward themselves w/astronomical raises and bonuses even though the companies are losing money! The union workers don’t run the companies into the ground with their pay and benefits like healthcare, but if you got a few executives to give up even $1 million each of their $10 million or more individual bonuses then think of how many workers could keep their pensions and healthcare they worked 30 years to get. American-made autos are poor-performers due to exceptionally greedy executives who give themselves multi-million dollar bonuses they don’t deserve. They continue to make cars/trucks with low gas mileage as part of their ongoing relationship with the U.S. oil industry. But the party will soon be over for both of them; we are past peak oil and in approximately 75-83yrs all the oil in the Middle East will be gone and then we will be going to war over the last remaining barrels of oil. Maybe when gas hits $10/gallon, Americans will demand alternative energy sources leading to cars we can drive for a month without having to refuel!
December 29th, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
Yes, you are off base, and living in the past. US Auto executives, the decision makers, screwed up. So stop blaming the engineers and the union work force for it.
And in case you didn’t know what the unions did for you and even for the right to work Southern states, they got you the 40 hour work week, and the nice competitive pay from Japanese auto industry, comparable with American car companies. But the foreign auto companies are not saddled with health care costs, and at home in Japan and elsewhere, the government takes care of it.
Why is it so unreasonable to healthcare and pension? I do not hear you crying about the insane paychecks of executives? What, they have three brains? Hard labor is cheap? Is that it? Sounds a bit Chinese to me.
And finally, check out some of the new cars. You want a Buick? It is not a piece of junk anymore. Go try out Lacrosse. You want a Ford? Heard of the best damn Hybrid on the road, the Fusion? Check it out. Then be proud to own and drive an American car.