<StonyMason@mailcity.com> wrote in message
news:409A8D88.1B8038@mailcity.com...

The problem is that the content label does NOT explain it well at all. The
convoluted domestic content laws, passed by congress at the behest of the
big 3 automakers, ensure that the label is meaningless.

To not include the cost of labor is insane, unless you're an automaker that
wants to build factories in Canada and Mexico! Duh!

To include foreign content as domestic is insane, yet the last time I
checked, Canada and Mexico were not part of the U.S.. Thanks to NAFTA,
non-U.S. content is often classified as U.S. content.

So you can't go by the label. It is entirely possible that a Honda Civic,
built in the U.S., actually has far more true domestic content than a Ford
Focus built in Mexico.

What do you think about the Saturn Vue, whose domestic content went UP when
they switched to a Honda engine from a GM engine? Should they be applauded
for going to a more reliable, domestically produced engine, that happens to
come from a foreign company, or should we have been happier with a GM engine
from Europe?

What about the PT Cruiser, technically a product of a European company, but
built in Mexico, versus a Honda Element, built in the U.S. by a Japanese
company? Buying the Element is much better for the U.S. economy.

What about the Toyota Corolla, produced in Fremont, CA, in a unionized
factory, versus a Mexican Chevrolet Cavalier (some Cavalier's are made in
Mexico, some in the U.S.).

The big 2 or big 3 are counting on the fact that many people don't
understand how they pushed through the domestic content law with all it's
convolutions, to try to give the appearance that the domestic content is
higher than it really is. No doubt the salespeople are trained to explain
the domestic content to customers. But there have been numerous articles
published that explain how meaningless the domestic content percentage is,
so in reality I think that their efforts are backfiring. A vehicle that
truly has high domestic content, and is assembled in the U.S., has no
advantage (in terms of the label) over a vehicle that is manufactured
elsewhere in North America with low domestic content. People pay no
attention to the label anymore. OTOH, the Japanese manufacturers have done a
good job of publicizing the fact that most of their mass marked vehicles are
manufactured in the U.S..

The best way to support the U.S. economy is to buy vehicles made in the
U.S.. You'll never figure out the true domestic content, so just go by where
the factory is. This is especially useful for the Japanese companies, since
they are sourcing as many components from the U.S. as possible because they
want the component manufacturing close to the factory, and because they want
to be shielded from currency issues caused by the massive U.S. deficits,
courtesy of George Bush.