On 6/3/2009 1:48 PM, Eric wrote:

The competitors most have US ASSEMBLY plants. Much of the parts
that constitute the actual manufacturing are done outside the US and
outside of the regulations.
Do you have any data to support that? Not that it really matters, if Toyota can assemble a car in
the US from foreign-made parts, GM is free to do the same. Whose fault is it that they chose not
to?

Unions, for one. And actually, if you look at the documentation for
your vehicle, you'll see that many of their lines ARE merely assembled
in the US.


Oh by the way, should we consider exactly *why* foreign car companies are assembling cars in the US?
Does the threat of import tariffs imposed by the government ring a bell?

How about the logistics of shipping materials? If you are sourcing
SOME of the parts from the destination country, it makes more sense to
send everything there for assembly, rather than have items make multiple
trips across the ocean.

Of course, the use of tariffs is an admission that we can't be
cost-competitive in the first place.

The unions, which HAVE had a crippling effect on the domestic auto industry,
of course are not part
of the government. It's not hard to see that if the industry had been more
regulated by the
government, the unions would not have gained as much power and the picture
might be very different
right now.

Which alternative universe are you living in?
One where facts weigh more than political dogma?


Apparently, the side of the economic/political spectrum you stand on
determines what you consider facts vs political dogma.