////That seems very defeatist of you.///

Yeah, so?

////Do you KNOW when you are bullshitting? My guess is not always. But you can go a long way to dispelling that by explaining that post. I think he bought a car built in North America with a small amount of Asian parts. But if you know different, lets hear it.////

If he bought a Ford, he bought a car where not a single part is made by Ford because Ford does not make ANYTHING that goes in their vehicles anymore. Every system is outsourced--axles, steering, transmission, engine, heating and cooling, electrical, suspension. Ford spun off their manufacturing arm as Visteon which is a totally separate, individual company. We say that when a car company puts its name on a vehicle it really doesn't make that it's "badged." ALL of Ford's vehicles are badged.

They can't even define an American car anymore. It's all a shell game. If it has no more than 25% foreign parts? Well 25% is a hell of a lot!!! It's an absurdity to call something 25% foreign American. Why not 10%? Because only two Ford models could make the cut. Why not 5% Why not 0%? Because there would't be ONE SINGLE vehicle in this country that could pass that test--that's why. Look at how the tsunami in Japan has slowed down "domestic" productivity because America does not make those parts.

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-12-12/us/american.cars_1_foreign-brands-dutch-mandel-american-car?_s=PM:US

****

An "American" brand tells you little about where all the parts in a car are made. I was once at a dinner with Lee Iaccoca where I teased him about my Dodge Stealth, made in Japan by Mitsubishi. Similarly, today's Chevy Aveo is imported from Daewoo in South Korea. Yet Hyundai has a plant in Alabama.

Cars.com found only four cars and six light trucks with a domestic content (meaning US or Canadian) above 75%. That list includes the Toyota Tundra and Sienna and the Honda Odyssey. Other Honda's have a 60-70% domestic content, barely missing the cut.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/what-is-an-american-car/

*****

This week's comment comes from our old friend Hawaiian Don, in response to Civic comes to America; Aaron goes to bed. Don makes a good point that we've discussed in the past: What, exactly, constitutes an American car these days. Don says:

If a Honda is built in America with 90% American parts, by American workers, in a plant built by American workers with American materials and the profits are going into an American (American Honda Corp.) company traded on the American Stock Exchange, where we can all be part owners (stock holders) and the company pays taxes to the American Govt. on everything. Yet you call the Fusion American when it is built in Mexico... thank God that the “Ferinersâ€쳌 are investing in our sagging domestic economy, whereas our supposed American companies continue to open plants abroad, showing no interest in helping our unemployed workers.
A valid point. I often tell people that I have a 1996 Honda built in Marysville, Ohio and a 1969 Dodge built in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Which one is the American car? -- Aaron Gold

http://cars.about.com/b/2008/10/18/comment-of-the-week-what-constitutes-an-american-car.htm
***

Toyota Camry--Top American Car of 2011:

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpps/consumer/toyota-camry-named-most-american-car-by-cars.com-study-dpgoha-20110627-fc_13872758

The top two best-selling American cars:

1. Toyota Camry built in KY and IN from 80% American parts
2. Honda Accord made in OH and AL from 75% American parts

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/autos/1006/gallery.american_made/index.html

While we're at it the Honda Odyssey is maee in America with 75% American parts, the Toyota Tundra is made in Texas with 80% American parts and Toyota Sienna is made in Indiana from 85% American parts. Only the Ford Focus and Escape have 90% American parts and that excludes the hybrid models which are made in Mexico from 50% American parts. By the American auto industry's own standards, the Ford hybrids don't qualify as American. Toyota and Honda take half of the Top 10 slots.