Toyota Named Official Car of NHRA

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Harry 6674

I think that would be a company that's roots are American unlike toilets, Honda,nisson etc.

Get real Harry.In todays world these Japanese companies are just as much American as the former Big Three.Most of their upper level designers are American.The sad part is that corporate profits go back to Japan.It's like the old cliche,if the American cars were the best most Americans would have bought them.

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

Get real Harry.In todays world these Japanese companies are just as much American as the former Big Three.Most of their upper level designers are American.The sad part is that corporate profits go back to Japan.It's like the old cliche,if the American cars were the best most Americans would have bought them.

To me, the definition gets murky sometimes. In the 1980s, I drove a Plymouth that was made in Japan. I sold it and got a Honda that was made in Ohio. I now drive a Toyota that is made in Kentucky and has the highest domestic parts content of any car sold in the USA. On the other hand, Chrysler is an Italian company now. GM and Ford made a large part of their revenue in Europe. Buick is a big seller in China - sells four times as many cars in China as in the USA. Ford and GM build cars in Mexico and Canada, as well as the USA.

It gets confusing.

[goinbroke2]

It's not confusing at all. I start a company and take it worldwide, I make lots of money employing locals at where ever it is fiscally sound to do so. But I am Canadian and my company and profits go back to Canada.

Here's a little bit of history for you;
After ww2 Ford went to Europe (UK specifically) and built cars (they were before but they increased tremendously after) and they way they did it was convincing everyone they were just as british as british/leyland, land rover, jaguar, Austin, etc, etc. Because of this, from the early 60's to mid 80's Ford outsold everything there and guess what? All the "british" companies went under. Mid 80's Ford decided it cost too much to build there so they...moved to germany (deganham) and other European countries that were cheaper to build in.
A little parting shot is Ford bought out Jag, Rover, Bentley, Volvo(ok volvo's not brit but you get the idea)

Fast forward to 90's in NA, toyota starts the big "we're American" push and convinces the sheep that they're an American company because....you guessed it, THEY GOT THE LOCALS TO BUILD because it was fiscally responsible (for several reasons) for them. "it must be American, my brother works there"

So, is VW or Toyota or any car company that has it's ORIGINAL HOME BASE in a foreign country and sends it's profits there "American"? No!

And yes you can buy toyota stock and keep some profit here, but your doing that in spite of the trend, not because of it.

Rants over, but don't try to convince me a company is local just because they opened plant here.

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by goinbroke2

A little parting shot is Ford bought out Jag, Rover, Bentley, Volvo(ok volvo's not brit but you get the idea)

Jag and Rover are now owned by Tata, an Indian company. Bentley has been part of Volkswagen since 1998. Volvo is owned by Geely Automobile of China.

Originally Posted by goinbroke2

So, is VW or Toyota or any car company that has it's ORIGINAL HOME BASE in a foreign country and sends it's profits there "American"? No!

So where does that leave Chrysler? The original home base is Michigan but the profits now go to Italy.

Jim

[goinbroke2]

Originally Posted by jwsamuel

Jag and Rover are now owned by Tata, an Indian company. Bentley has been part of Volkswagen since 1998. Volvo is owned by Geely Automobile of China.



So where does that leave Chrysler? The original home base is Michigan but the profits now go to Italy.

Jim

When Jack Nasser was running Ford he wanted a "Premium Auto Group", guess what he bought to fill it? Or in other words, who did tata buy jag and rover from? Dickhead nasser went on a spending spree and was buying everything he could and after buying various "premium" companies and dumping Billions with a B into them, Ford sold them off between 2006-2008 before the crunch hit for pennys on the dollar. Rover for example, I forget the numbers now but it was like they paid 100 million for it, dumped in a billion, then sold it for 50 million cause nobody was buying. It sucks but they did what they had to do.
Kudo's for Mulally for righting the ship and kudo's for Bill Ford for recognizing that he couldn't run Ford and swallowing his pride by bringing somebody who could in.

[D.Johns]

Originally Posted by goinbroke2

When Jack Nasser was running Ford he wanted a "Premium Auto Group", guess what he bought to fill it? Or in other words, who did tata buy jag and rover from? Dickhead nasser went on a spending spree and was buying everything he could and after buying various "premium" companies and dumping Billions with a B into them, Ford sold them off between 2006-2008 before the crunch hit for pennys on the dollar. Rover for example, I forget the numbers now but it was like they paid 100 million for it, dumped in a billion, then sold it for 50 million cause nobody was buying. It sucks but they did what they had to do.
Kudo's for Mulally for righting the ship and kudo's for Bill Ford for recognizing that he couldn't run Ford and swallowing his pride by bringing somebody who could in.

And whole lot more good links in the description box. I'd like to sit down with Mulally to pick his brain and also with Ford about how they decided he was the right guy for the job.

[jmcarter]

Originally Posted by D.Johns

And whole lot more good links in the description box. I'd like to sit down with Mulally to pick his brain and also with Ford about how they decided he was the right guy for the job.

Knew Mulally in his previous career, unbelievable leader with charisma, talent and dedication. I'm sure he was a rude surprise to any executive who didn't know his respective business plan and metrics to manage it. He's the kind of leader who inspires his team to their very best or they find the door. Nobody should ever doubt the power of a single dedicated leader and he illustrates that perfectly.

[david ring]

Originally Posted by jwsamuel

To me, the definition gets murky sometimes. In the 1980s, I drove a Plymouth that was made in Japan. I sold it and got a Honda that was made in Ohio. I now drive a Toyota that is made in Kentucky and has the highest domestic parts content of any car sold in the USA. On the other hand, Chrysler is an Italian company now. GM and Ford made a large part of their revenue in Europe. Buick is a big seller in China - sells four times as many cars in China as in the USA. Ford and GM build cars in Mexico and Canada, as well as the USA.

It gets confusing.

Please don't confuse me with the facts!

[X-TECH MAN]

I prefer home made and personally hand built cars (Hot Rods & Muscle cars) Yeah the basic building parts are mostly old worn out America stuff but when everything you get done or do yourself is basically an AMERICAN hand built car like your race cars. Blue printed to the max and built by your own hands. I dislike my 2010 Corvette. It is a piece of electronic junk with 11 (eleven&^%$$ computers in it.) My 35 Chev. coupe was better. It had a carb, A/C, power windows, OD automatic trans, NO friggin metric bolts !. It ALWAYS started, rode great, got 26 MPG with a roller cammed 350 Chev. engine and turned more heads that ANYTHING a rich kid could buy today. Keep your new cars. I don't want them except maybe for parts !

[Harry 6674]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

Get real Harry.In todays world these Japanese companies are just as much American as the former Big Three.Most of their upper level designers are American.The sad part is that corporate profits go back to Japan.It's like the old cliche,if the American cars were the best most Americans would have bought them.

Get real? Not a chance Bozo. If you think their cars are better then ours maybe you should move there.