By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
“We’ve started a very active marketing effort in Europe now with Jeep, and we’ve had phenomenal results. Sales are doubling almost every 12 months.” That assessment suggests that very soon, perhaps as early as next year, the export volume of Jeeps built in Toledo will rise significantly from 2011, when the company shipped out about 9,500 units to foreign markets, mostly in Europe, for the year to date through October, compared with about 10,500 units in each of the previous two years and about 14,000 units in 2008."
Germans Set Bar In U.S. Auto Exporting (AutoObserver)
Heck, maybe it was built with the real parts the US Military paid for, since they got a lot of counterfeit parts from China on their orders.
In related news, China is adding duties to US-built cars, accusing the USA of dumping. Would be funny if it were not true:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111214/GLOBAL/111219947/113- 1
China accusing anyone of unfair trade practices is hilarious, they are the greatest trading criminal on the planet.
1 in 2 Americans is Poor or Low Income
Steering back to cars, the infrastructure construction would have created more income that could have been spent on new cars, which would have created more jobs building cars (both so-called domestic AND so-called foreign), which would have............ etc.
But yeah, could have replaced every deficient bridge in America by now.
I'm old enough to remember when most roads were pothole free.
Heck, when I was a kid they repaved our little one block street pretty much every year.
I remember as a very young kid driving on the brand new Garden State Parkway.
Of course other than the constant expansion work (when I was a kid the Parkway was a maximum of three lanes in each direction and went down to two lanes in Monmouth County and the bridge over Great Egg Harbor was one lane in each direction) the Parkway is still an insanely well kept road. One of the few things in the state that work.
If you want to play the blame game:
Of course, we could be paying triple the cost for oil after the Middle East had gone haywire into the control of "other" powers who had taken over Iraq/
And we could have used the money we spent on social programs that do no good (to wit, the Great Society of Johnson til now) and take money away from handling the infrastructure repair. Giving people money so they can protest in parks against whatever they can synthesize as their cause de jour doesn't do much to help them become employed or starting their own business.
Now steering back to cars, construction and reconcontruction of the infrastructure isn't going to do too much different. It's building and manufacturing that are need that are monies in the private sector being spent into the economy. Spending government money like the last three years will only devalue the dollar as more are printed. Government spending hurts the car industry.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Figure in the worst case scenario, oil would have cost $45 more per barrel, so roughly 100 dead for each $1 off a barrel of oil. That's how addicted we are.
Depending upon who you ask, USA's #1 export is debt, waste, or bombs.
After the war ended, our manufacturing switched over to the civilian's needs and rolled along for a few years before we went into a downturn, it's feast or famine..It's comes in cycles..When Govt tries to control the cycles then we use our "credit card" and roll the presses..and always blame someone else..
Out Govt has gutted the American manufacturing scene with a myraid of laws and regulations. Our corporations switched to foreign countries for the cheaper labor and less restrictions..The foreign guys invaded America with their transplant operations supported by the our government and the respective states and drove our auto guys off the cliff..
I know, Detroit built lousy cars and blah-blah, however from my perspective
the trip from 1967 thru 2001 was a blast with supplying parts to the Big3 and military tank track components..
After going through 53 cars, none Asian, I can only praise Detroit, and the 2 Porsches.
Too bad all the profits go to Fiat.
Well, he'll provide some much needed profit to the salesman and dealer.
I've been in that situation a few times. Generally I try to give the local dealer an opportunity to be competitive and I'll place a little value on supporting the local dealer and factor in the time/cost of acquiring the vehicle from a further distance.
We went through that last year with a camper we bought. A quote from a dealer in Michigan was over $1k cheaper. I was able to get a local dealer to within $500. That was fine because the cost in gas alone would've been that much to tow my old camper all the way to Mi and tow the new one all the way back (getting 8mpg @ $4/gal at the time adds up quick). Plus it would have taken a full day.
You ask yourself, would you drive 10 minutes to save $200? It may not seem like much on a new car purchase, but $200 is still $200, no matter what you're buying.
Think of it this way, if a pack of gum were $200.50 in MD, and $0.50 in VA, would you pay $200 more for gum?
The DC area is densely populated so I guess it's nice to have many dealers to choose from, all competing against each other for your business. If the MD dealer can match the TrueCar.com quote (we have it printed) then we'll buy local.
10 minutes is local in my book even it is in a neighboring state, so yeah, I'd definitely drive 10 minutes for $200. My situation was hundreds of miles.
Heck, a couple months ago, I was considering buying a used Altima hybrid from them. Unfortunately, when I called about it, it was already sold, although it still showed up on their website for another couple days.
Pop went to Criswell (here in MD) and they treated him well, he almost bought a left over 2011 S model with Navi and a hard top. Price was amazing, I told him to get it! $29k on an MSRP of $36k or so, well below TrueCar pricing for a 2012 by several grand.
It's white and he doesn't like the color, but if my step mom likes it he may still buy it.
Why not, if Benz makes the ML here?
Yes the Pathfinder is going full FWD/AWD, unibody, crossover next year.
I always felt the FX and later EX were so small...
Did you see that MB is looking to sell up to 10% of the company to China?
link title
The Acura ILX will join the TL sedan, ZDX crossover vehicle, and the MDX and RDX sport-utility vehicles as the fifth Acura model produced exclusively in North America. Acura finished second among all luxury brands in the J.D. Power and Associates' 2011 Initial Quality Study.
Now, about that name... :sick:
“There’s been much talk about Chinese cars being sold in North America, but we hadn’t seen that yet,” said Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst with Edmunds.com, an automotive research Web site. “These are from a well-known, major global automaker, so that eliminates some of the challenges that face Chinese automakers.”
In Canada, a Car Built in China (NY Times)
Canada may be more receptive to a Chinese made known brand vehicle as there seems to be a larger Chinese population (proportionately) than in the US.
However, from my experience, they don't embrace Chinese products - they love American and some European products. Not quite as rabid nationalism as one can find in Korea or Japan when it comes time to shop, anyway.
But I've heard similar complaints about Walmart, Sears, Best Buy, RockAuto, NAPA, PepBoys.
And sometimes you pay a premium and still get junk.
That's probably true. I've always thought you'd get better parts from NAPA and had to be careful with parts from places like Autozone, particularly with things like alternators and starters etc.