[DerbyX]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

bootlegga bootlegga:

I too like the idea of letting Japanese auto companies replace the Big Three.

Losing the auto manufacturers has ramifications far beyond who you buy your car from because a fair chunk of defense equipment is also produced by these firms. The thought of depending on a foreign nation to produce military equipment is truly scary.

The military equipment we build here is generally under license is it not?

Last I heard the LAVs were built under license in London and the Griffons were built in mirabel. I think it was designed by us as well but I don't know. Most of the rest we bought outright.

[bootlegga]

Yes, we build under license, but considering that most of our heavy equipment (fighters, transport planes, tanks, etc) was built somewhere else, I don't see it as much of a concern.

Frankly, even if say GM (builders of the LAV III) were to go bankrupt, someone would buy it up and keep it going. Companies go bankrupt all the time and have their assets bought by someone else. Remember Pan-Am and TWA? All that changes is the name.

[tritium]

sandorski sandorski:

I like the idea of focussing on Japanese Manufacturers for Canadian manufacturers. Even if the Big 3 survive, the Japanese will continue to dominate.

Why in the hell would Japanese Manufacturers come to Canada when they can open up a car plant in Mexico and ship them to Canada under NAFTA??

[DerbyX]

tritium tritium:

sandorski sandorski:

I like the idea of focussing on Japanese Manufacturers for Canadian manufacturers. Even if the Big 3 survive, the Japanese will continue to dominate.

Why in the hell would Japanese Manufacturers come to Canada when they can open up a car plant in Mexico and ship them to Canada under NAFTA??

Considering everybody is saying that Obama will pull jobs south and eliminate NAFTA I don't see the japanese automakers building their cars under mexican labourer then paying taxes to ship them abroad.

Hell I don't see them using mexican labour to build their cars full stop.

[BartSimpson]

One of the principle reasons the USA prevailed in WW2 was because our auto manufacturers were so skilled at re-tooling - a skill that will disappear with their demise. For instance, when Dodge took on the contract to build B-24 bombers at their massive plant in Chicago the first completed B-24 rolled out the doors of the plant only 23 days after the last passenger car rolled out those same doors. Without the body of manufacturing and tooling skills the auto manufacturers represent we will be in deep sh*t if we ever need them again.

Were I President I would not hesitate to shut American ports to imported cars if that was what it took to preserve a national security asset as critical as the auto industry.

[mtbr]

[quote="stemmer"]
Then why do BMW, Rolls Royce, Ferrari use GM transmissions?



[quote]

they probably fit well with their Chinese engines..

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=295245

[hurley_108]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

One of the principle reasons the USA prevailed in WW2 was because our auto manufacturers were so skilled at re-tooling - a skill that will disappear with their demise. For instance, when Dodge took on the contract to build B-24 bombers at their massive plant in Chicago the first completed B-24 rolled out the doors of the plant only 23 days after the last passenger car rolled out those same doors. Without the body of manufacturing and tooling skills the auto manufacturers represent we will be in deep sh*t if we ever need them again.

Were I President I would not hesitate to shut American ports to imported cars if that was what it took to preserve a national security asset as critical as the auto industry.

Is there ANY issue you can't spin into a national security issue?

[mtbr]

Bart and Stemmer...two old men living in GM's past

[BartSimpson]

hurley_108 hurley_108:

Is there ANY issue you can't spin into a national security issue?

Goat porn.

[stemmer]

mtbr mtbr:

stemmer stemmer:

Then why do BMW, Rolls Royce, Ferrari use GM transmissions?

$1:

they probably fit well with their Chinese engines..

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=295245

Yes, a Chinese engine in a cheap subcompact. However I doubt it very much you will see a made in China engine in a Corvette or Cadillac....

Besides, China is a bigger threat to Japanesse car companies then North American...

I would be all for free trade with Japan IF Japan practised fair trade...

[hurley_108]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

hurley_108 hurley_108:

Is there ANY issue you can't spin into a national security issue?

Goat porn.

[mtbr]

"GM neither promoted nor hid the fact that the Equinox engine (and that of its twin, the Pontiac Torrent) is made in China. The car's sticker notes 55 percent of its content is make in the United States and Canada, 20 percent in Japan, 15 percent in China and the rest from elsewhere."
"Soon China will be exporting whole vehicles to North America. Last year, Chrysler signed a deal with China's largest car company, Chery Automobile, to supply a Dodge subcompact."But no sticker tells consumers the engine is built at Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture of GM and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., a Chinese company.

"Originally intended to power Buick sedans built for the Chinese market, the engine is the only one available in the Equinox base model".

Torrent and Equinox....subcompacts

interesting bits of info about that NORTH AMERICAN COMPANY

[bootlegga]

mtbr mtbr:

"GM neither promoted nor hid the fact that the Equinox engine (and that of its twin, the Pontiac Torrent) is made in China. The car's sticker notes 55 percent of its content is make in the United States and Canada, 20 percent in Japan, 15 percent in China and the rest from elsewhere."
"Soon China will be exporting whole vehicles to North America. Last year, Chrysler signed a deal with China's largest car company, Chery Automobile, to supply a Dodge subcompact."But no sticker tells consumers the engine is built at Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture of GM and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., a Chinese company.

"Originally intended to power Buick sedans built for the Chinese market, the engine is the only one available in the Equinox base model".

Torrent and Equinox....subcompacts

interesting bits of info about that NORTH AMERICAN COMPANY

How is this surprisging?

NIKE makes shoes there, HP makes PCs there, Wal-Mart buys everything there...frankly I'm surprised it took this long for US auto manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon.

[stemmer]

Sorry MTBR other then your extreme desire to "bad mouth" one of the few industries we have left in North America you seem like a decent enough bloke...


However I am perplexed by the myth that imports are better then domestics... One of the biggest problems we have in North America is the lack of a sense of community and no dedication to nationhood or spirit of country.... We are not unlike the native Americans who sold Manhattan for a few shiny beads... Now we sell the very sovereignty of our nation and give our economy over to foreigners for imported consumer goods... So I guess in truth we get what we deserve for we are the architects of our own demise... Which really saddens for I was taught at a very young age family always comes first and before strangers...


Our legacy will not be much different then those poor natives who traded their home land for glittering stones....


At least Japan has a sense of nationhood and put's the interest of nation before those of other nations...


We have truly entered a new age, the era of economic warfare and my spirit of country not be so easily bought as yours...

[Zipperfish]

Rgeardless of what your opinion is of the merits of imported versus domestic vehicles, the market has been quite clear on the issue. And the markets, in a free market economy, are always right. Unfortunately we're going to devolve to a situation where governments start handing out cash, creating a bunch of corporate welfare bums whose ability to compete will decrease.