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
And while I agree there are no US manufacturers making TV's anymore, and hardly any making stereos, I submit the Japanese have never made a good stereo amplifier, or a good speaker. (Don't come back with Sony or Technics, good value, but not for the critical ear. Technics better of the two.)
Among the best names in high end audio, Krell, Mark Levinson, McIntosh are unmatched by anything ever produced in Japan. JBL speakers, were the finest speakers ever produced, before they succumbed to market realities. Their professional division made the speakers for the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and JBL always had, and still does have big presence in concert sound, recording studios etc. What you see now, JBL speakers for car audio, and cheap speakers for home sound are made overseas.
My computers? Hewlett Packard, Compaq, with genuine Intel processors. They kick butt, but are populated with mostly korean memory chips. But so what? America went to the moon with less computing power than a Commodore 64, and long before this present generation of computer whiz kid know-it-alls were even born. They will never see a moon landing in their lifetime. We've given it all over to the politically correct ambitions, for putting teachers in space, foreigners, old men, and eliminated the risk takers from the equation, the test pilots, Grissom, Shephard, White, Chaffe, Armstrong. So you get space from the internet. Big deal.
Off my soap box. Sorry.
Case-in-point: GM has made some real strides in the overseas markets. It's now bidding to buy Daiwoo to further penetrate those markets. It's also LEARNING more about what's required to compete globally... A GOOD THING!
As for the global thing in general, this internet thing we all use daily is a PERFECT illustration of what's REALLY going on here. I communicate daily with friends in Australia and Asia. We LEARN from each other. As we do so, the "world" becomes smaller by the hour.
Smell the coffee? Yep! And the coffee may originate (as vehicles do) from any number of countries. Speaking for myself, it feels good to have that choice!
Comparing maximum specifications for 4x4 extended cabs Dakota and Tundra:
Dakota Tundra
Wheelbase 131" 128"
Length 215" 217"
Bed cu.ft. 46 45
Bed length 78" 76"
Bed width 59" 61"
GVWR 6,050 6,050
Payload 1,800 1,530
Towing 6,200 7,100
Horsepower 250 245
Torque 345 315
There two trucks are in fact very similar.
Over the years I've developed a preference in country of origin - the way I figure, if the country has working conditions and standards similiar to mine, I'll buy from it. That basically counts out south-east asia, Korea, Mexico,South America and Tennessee (whoops, I didn't mean that)
A couple things really bother me, countries such as Mexico which we use as low wage ghetto's, with minimal environmental and labour standards. And those manufacturers who are basically corporate welfare bums - they shop countries, states and towns looking for the biggest subsidies, free land, no taxes, lax labour laws and so on. Who is the winner here? Toyota and Nissan and Mercedes aren't operating plants in the US because of the superior workforce, it's the subsidies. A huge portion of the components and manufacturing equipment are imported from overseas - ultra low domestic content. Wake up, because it's a race to see who can get to the bottom fastest.
One positive aspect of foriegn competition is the huge improvement in domestic quality. My Dakota QC is on order and it's the first North American brand vehicle I have ever owned - in 25 years!
Don't worry about competition from Japan. All things are darn near equal. I drove the Tundra, it's very nice, well made, a little pricey. But it's not really filling any niche - I drove the F150 and the GMC too, and all things considered, the QC was the best bet for my family
Four proper opening doors is a unique feature in this price range, and was the feature that clinched the deal. Well, it's also a nice looking truck and it fits my carport!
Good point also on the Tundra not filling a niche... Having worked for Toyota/Lexus on Tundra and RX-300 training projects, I honestly WANTED to step down from the Dodge Ram to the Tundra... Problem was it didn't have quite the specs I wanted for towing, yet it was still too "large" to slip into the garage without a problem.
So... I ended up with a Dakota Quad with 5.9 guzzler... But I'm thoroughly delighted with it! The convenience of four independent doors and the pure spunk of that little monster have me totally absorbed! Don't know what it is about the Dodge Boys, but they certainly seem to have a knack for finding profitable niches!
Good luck with your Quad!
The debate has been if you buy import you're sending money overseas; so what if they employ Americans in the factories here. The other argument is buy American even if they build factories out of the country at the expense of the American worker. It's sort of damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Even though I tend to buy American it seems the import companies that build factories here are at least contributing to the economy by putting people to work. I sure don't see any of the money Ford or GM earn by "keeping the money here" buying domestic.
"I sure don't see any of the money Ford or
GM earn by "keeping the money here" buying
domestic"
I think that the people that would disagree tend to have a need to support unions whether they are truly beneficial or not. As to why they would do that, call it hereditary.
Yes indeed... "hooray for intelligence."
It all kinda boils down to supply/demand/price, doesn't it? And it really doesn't matter WHO the maker is... If there's no demand for a vehicle or the price is way out there, the maker isn't gonna make any money!!!
Had to chuckle at your one analogy about "anatomy vs. truck"... I'm continually entertained by the guys with cartoon characters in their rear windows, relieving themselves on one brand or another! What a hoot!!!
VINCE:
I can certainly relate to your frustration with loss of jobs through downsizing or opening facilities in other countries... My older brother lost his job of 10 years as a CPA with a major automotive supplier here in Detroit due to an international buyout.
But it's a fact of life... And the ONLY way the U.S. is going to hold its own is to beat them at their own game!
A small but interesting example: Well over half the domestic vehicles "bought" in the U.S. are actually leased... Particularly the high-end metal like loaded Suburbans, Yukons and "big-boy" pickups.
So, what's happening with those units after the 2- or 3-year lease is up?
An incredible number of them are being shipped to the Middle East, where they're paying big bucks (to the U.S.) for the things. They soak us for the petroleum products... We'll soak them for those big trucks!
Ah well... Nothing "profound" here except to say that we need to continue thinking as global entrapreneurs rather than territorialists.
On the up side, right now most people are not hurting. Not like the early 70s' when employment was the pits. Now we cannot fill all the lower paying jobs because of the opportunities. 35 years ago we were cocky and took it on the chin. Today we are getting more savvy, but still need to improve our ability to compete.
Miami? Don't know
I'll bet theres a whole lot more to that story than stubborn union workers.
Seems we had a couple tire plants in Canada do the same thing - some companies only want to build and sell based on squeezing the lowest costs, pinching every last penny out of suppliers and workers - instead of building quality products. Unreliable materials and workforce = shoddy products. That's why we bought QC's and Tundras instead of Kia's
Nuts man
- Tim
This is EXACTLY what happened to the domestic oil industry in the 80's & 90's. It's gone, as are the jobs (500,000+), and guess what: now it's time to pay the piper - in much higher pump prices. And just as the ol' public is buying suv's & big trucks by the boatloads. What a conundrum. While I'm making more money directly because of the current situation, it still makes me sick to think of what could have - and should have been: stable energy supplies for the next 50 years (by drilling more prospects while importing much, much less oil). Now the only real hope that exists for lowering pump prices is switching to the only real stable and readily available source of fuel for internal combustion engines we have: compressed natral gas (cng). But it won't happen because the bureacrats & politicians just can't stand a strong voting block in the energy states - they'd rather switch wholesale (for huge, huge $) to the hybrid engine crap we're (nearly) sick of hearing about.
This is off subject, so it's 'hidden.' But just to Topical, I like both of these trucks a whole bunch! :-))
this topic is being "frozen." It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.
Front Porch Philosopher
SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host