Foreign Cars.

[CountrySquire]

We need to start by forcing our own so called "Domestic" auto makers to build their stuff here, Yesterday's Autobeat daily had back to back stories touting Ford's new plant in China that will build 150K Ford Focuses a year, and that Hyundai is opening a new plant in one of our Southern States to build an SUV. You know damn well most of those 150K Chineses Focuses are intended to be sold here.

[detmsp]

We need to start by forcing our own so called "Domestic" auto makers to build their stuff here, Yesterday's Autobeat daily had back to back stories touting Ford's new plant in China that will build 150K Ford Focuses a year, and that Hyundai is opening a new plant in one of our Southern States to build an SUV. You know damn well most of those 150K Chineses Focuses are intended to be sold here.

Actually I know damn well that you're completely full of BS. The next generation focus for NA will be built in two plants right here in Michigan.

[detrola]

Buy American,
Porque tan es silencioso?

[Buy American]

Buy American,
Porque tan es silencioso?

Sad times detrola.
Nothing much to say. Just watching my country go to hell, piece by piece.

[darwinism]

What Detroiters have to wake up to is the fact that many people in the other 49 states don't any more care whether people in Michigan have jobs. It may be an important issue to Detroiters, but other than that, people just want the best car value for the money. And if that means they wind up supporting a producer in a right to work state rather than a Detroit union shop, they've got no problem with it as long as they're getting a better product and better service for the money. And if their experience is anything like mine, they are!

Rather than cry and moan and accuse people of being unAmerican, maybe some people had better wake up and start producing better products and a more competitive price, and offering better customer service. That would be a lot more effective tactic for regaining market share than whining and moaning and wringing hands and gnashing teeth and sputtering about how the rest of America somehow owes more to southeast Michigan than any other region of the country "just because."

When it comes to selfish, myopic regionalism and once all local bias is removed from the picture, there's really no objective difference between Sen. Corker and his Michigan congressional counterparts. Everybody's fighting for local employment - and that is their right. But if they really want to win the fight, the people wanting to keep these jobs would be better to get off their duffs and start doing something about improving their competiveness - in both quality and price - than just continuing to get offended and sling insults at each other. The day Detroit consistently offers a better package than Toyota, Detroit will excel in sales and Toyota will be flirting with bankruptcy. Until then, expect more of the status quo.

Good post, EMG.

Bearinabox, truth be told ..... our region really, really needs to have a major attitude overhaul. This is a very serious flaw that causes every single person in Southeast Michigan lifelong dilemmas. Folks here have got to stop feeling that they deserve the world, and are entitled to everything under the sun, because they revolutionize the auto industry. It is time to let it go. The entire country has moved on. The entire world has moved on.

The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. Anything short of that, we are back to exactly where we have been for decades ..... the memory of us revolutionizing the auto industry, the memory of the riot and everything else that has stuck in our minds for generations. That is why folks like BuyAmerican needs to truly look deep and hard at the people he/she loves, and stop trying to get them to believe in the same mentality.

[Buy American]

Good post, EMG.

Bearinabox, truth be told ..... our region really, really needs to have a major attitude overhaul. This is a very serious flaw that causes every single person in Southeast Michigan lifelong dilemmas. Folks here have got to stop feeling that they deserve the world, and are entitled to everything under the sun, because they revolutionize the auto industry. It is time to let it go. The entire country has moved on. The entire world has moved on.

The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. Anything short of that, we are back to exactly where we have been for decades ..... the memory of us revolutionizing the auto industry, the memory of the riot and everything else that has stuck in our minds for generations. That is why folks like BuyAmerican needs to truly look deep and hard at the people he/she loves, and stop trying to get them to believe in the same mentality.

Tell me about now darwinism...tell me what Michigan can look forward to for, lets say, the next 5 years, without the auto industry. What is the unemployment rate today in Michigan? It was 15.2% in August. The attitude overhaul you're speaking about will be people leaving Michigan, not the rah rah spitit I think you are talking about. My neighbors, my friends, some in my family, can't just go out and put a wind farm in their backyards or dig for oil. They had jobs with the auto industry or jobs that were affiliated with the auto industry. Others had jobs that depended on the auto workers for their livelihoods.
To change your career midlife is very difficult for many, impossible for others. Go to school, learn something different, get that newly formed job at that newly formed company is a dream for a long time. It's not an overnight process. What happens in the interim? Does the bank wait for the house payment? Will the hospital put the bill aside until health benefits are reinstated? Will they be able to educate their kids? There are lots of questions and lots of displaced people with absolutely no where to go.
I don't think that folks in Michigan think they "deserve the world" darwinism. Anyone working for an American Auto Company worked hard and long to eek a living. You say the country has moved on, that the entire world has moved on... I say that those who don't support the country where their bread is buttered should move on and leave the U.S. to those who want to support it.

You say "The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. " Tell me, what is that brighter future you're talking about?

[darwinism]

Tell me about now darwinism...tell me what Michigan can look forward to for, lets say, the next 5 years, without the auto industry. What is the unemployment rate today in Michigan? It was 15.2% in August. The attitude overhaul you're speaking about will be people leaving Michigan, not the rah rah spitit I think you are talking about. My neighbors, my friends, some in my family, can't just go out and put a wind farm in their backyards or dig for oil. They had jobs with the auto industry or jobs that were affiliated with the auto industry. Others had jobs that depended on the auto workers for their livelihoods.
To change your career midlife is very difficult for many, impossible for others. Go to school, learn something different, get that newly formed job at that newly formed company is a dream for a long time. It's not an overnight process. What happens in the interim? Does the bank wait for the house payment? Will the hospital put the bill aside until health benefits are reinstated? Will they be able to educate their kids? There are lots of questions and lots of displaced people with absolutely no where to go.
I don't think that folks in Michigan think they "deserve the world" darwinism. Anyone working for an American Auto Company worked hard and long to eek a living. You say the country has moved on, that the entire world has moved on... I say that those who don't support the country where their bread is buttered should move on and leave the U.S. to those who want to support it.

You say "The sooner we change our attitude, the sooner we can begin to work hard again for a brighter future. " Tell me, what is that brighter future you're talking about?

Good questions, Buy American, good questions indeed.

I will give you straight answers, personally.

First and foremost, we do not need to look ahead in 5-years without a viable and healthy auto industry. The fact is, we haven't had a viable and healthy auto industry for the past 10-15 years, if not longer. Southeast Michigan has been bleeding money and people during that time, if not longer.

Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly support the hard-working men and women who truly work their ass off day-in and day-out to build the best product in the world. Props go out to the fine folks in Lake Orion who build my new 2009 Chevy Malibu.

Detrola made an excellent point concerning outsourcing manufacturing. Why would you support Ford for building the highly popular Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan in Mexico ? If you support them for doing that, chances are good they will do that even more, and eventually ALL Ford auto manufacturing will be done in Mexico. Why wouldn't you support Toyota and Honda who employ our hard-working Americans in Indiana, Ohio, Alabama and Kentucky ? Because the so-called "profits" go to Japan ? Do you think the Ford "profits" ever reach your children's pockets ? I didn't think so either, unless your children's last name is Ford. So, why are you defending their outsourcing of jobs ? You should in fact be outraged at companies like Ford for outsourcing manufacturing jobs. You should be outraged at companies like Chrysler for building bad products and being managed poorly, that they needed to be passed around like a rag-doll from the Germans to a private equity firm, and now to the Italians.

Yes, it is indeed difficult to make changes mid-career. No doubt about that. Lots of people outside of Michigan go through the exact same grueling experience every single day, Buy American. Do you think the steel workers in Pennsylvania had an easy time ? Do you think the construction workers in Florida, California and Las Vegas had an easy time when the real estate building boom came to a halt ? They have families too, they have house payments, medical bills, and all the obligations that Metro Detroit autoworkers have. Yet the steel workers, electricians, carpenters, and so on, moved on ..... made things happen ..... and charged forward into a brighter future doing something else that came with a stable paycheck.

Buy American, the brighter future I am talking about is a future of Metro Detroiters that are nimble, capable of diversity and change, problem-solvers instead of constant-bitchers, intelligent and open to lifelong-education, as well as the willingness to let history be history. It is wrong to wish the worst for good people in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia and Alabama who enjoy their jobs at Honda, Toyota and Kia. It is just downright wrong, because guess what ..... Michigan can just as well call it quits, if it ever, ever, ever thinks that it is so special that people in the other 49 states and the District of Columbia should bow to it for guidance. Get real ! If anything, Michigan needs more friends, not foes.

[CountrySquire]

Actually I know damn well that you're completely full of BS. The next generation focus for NA will be built in two plants right here in Michigan.

Maybe so, then why does Ford need that kind of capacity in China then?

Amid weakness at home, Ford, Toyota turn to China
By Dan Strumpf, AP Auto Writer
NEW YORK — Ford Motor[[F) plans to build a third assembly plant in China while Toyota Motor [[TM) will start selling an entry-level family car there, as the world's automakers pour more resources into the fast-growing Chinese car market amid weakness in their home countries.
Ford said Friday it plans to spend $490 million on the assembly plant in China. The factory will make the next-generation Focus compact car, which Ford plans to sell globally.

[ndavies]

Maybe so, then why does Ford need that kind of capacity in China then?

Maybe the Chinese market has matured enough to need that kind of capacity. It's near impossible to import cars into China, so if you plan to sell there you need to be able to build there.

[CountrySquire]

Maybe the Chinese market has matured enough to need that kind of capacity. It's near impossible to import cars into China, so if you plan to sell there you need to be able to build there.

Sounds like they have the right idea in China. I wish our government would protect us the same way.

[detmsp]

Maybe so, then why does Ford need that kind of capacity in China then?

Amid weakness at home, Ford, Toyota turn to China
By Dan Strumpf, AP Auto Writer
NEW YORK — Ford Motor[[F) plans to build a third assembly plant in China while Toyota Motor [[TM) will start selling an entry-level family car there, as the world's automakers pour more resources into the fast-growing Chinese car market amid weakness in their home countries.
Ford said Friday it plans to spend $490 million on the assembly plant in China. The factory will make the next-generation Focus compact car, which Ford plans to sell globally.

Maybe they need capactiy in China to build cars for the world's largest auto market, which is conveniently located in nerby... China.

If the fact that there will be a Chinese assembly plant of the Focus means they will be importing the Focus from China to the US, you could use that same logic to infer that the Focus is already imported from the following countries:

China [[that's right, there is already an assembly plant in China cranking out the Focus)
Australia
Argentina
Mexico
South Africa
Germany
Philippines
Portugal
Taiwan
Spain
Russia
Vietnam

And then of course there is also an assembly plant right here in Michigan.

It's a global car... made all over the world, sold all over the world. Quit spreading misinformation.

[CountrySquire]

I don't understand how this is misinformation. The plant Ford is proposing in China will build 150K Foci a year. The other plants in Australia or Argentina you mentioned might be capable of what 10K units per year? You can't convince me the Chinese will buy all those 150K Foci per year, so where do you think the remainder will wind up? The article said Ford plans to sell these cars GLOBALLY.

Maybe they need capactiy in China to build cars for the world's largest auto market, which is conveniently located in nerby... China.

If the fact that there will be a Chinese assembly plant of the Focus means they will be importing the Focus from China to the US, you could use that same logic to infer that the Focus is already imported from the following countries:

China [[that's right, there is already an assembly plant in China cranking out the Focus)
Australia
Argentina
Mexico
South Africa
Germany
Philippines
Portugal
Taiwan
Spain
Russia
Vietnam

And then of course there is also an assembly plant right here in Michigan.

It's a global car... made all over the world, sold all over the world. Quit spreading misinformation.

[detmsp]

I don't understand how this is misinformation. The plant Ford is proposing in China will build 150K Foci a year. The other plants in Australia or Argentina you mentioned might be capable of what 10K units per year? You can't convince me the Chinese will buy all those 150K Foci per year, so where do you think the remainder will wind up? The article said Ford plans to sell these cars GLOBALLY.

jesus christ it's like talking to a wall. Ford has already confirmed that the Focus will be produced in Wayne, Michigan [[which is not in China) for the NA market. You also clearly don't have much of a concept of what a reasonable sales volume is. China is the largest car market in the world. You think they can't sell 150,000 Focuses in China? They sell nearly that many in the UK [[137,000 or so in 2007), which has an auto market about the size of China's auto market's left nut.

[CountrySquire]

jesus christ it's like talking to a wall. Ford has already confirmed that the Focus will be produced in Wayne, Michigan [[which is not in China) for the NA market. You also clearly don't have much of a concept of what a reasonable sales volume is. China is the largest car market in the world. You think they can't sell 150,000 Focuses in China? They sell nearly that many in the UK [[137,000 or so in 2007), which has an auto market about the size of China's auto market's left nut.

Here's a thought. Why doesn't Ford help out our fellow country men that need work first before getting a pleasant reach around from China? Why can't Wayne Assembly build cars for export to China?

[One4Detroit]

Maybe so, then why does Ford need that kind of capacity in China then?

Amid weakness at home, Ford, Toyota turn to China
By Dan Strumpf, AP Auto Writer
NEW YORK — Ford Motor[[F) plans to build a third assembly plant in China while Toyota Motor [[TM) will start selling an entry-level family car there, as the world's automakers pour more resources into the fast-growing Chinese car market amid weakness in their home countries.
Ford said Friday it plans to spend $490 million on the assembly plant in China. The factory will make the next-generation Focus compact car, which Ford plans to sell globally.

The title of this article pretty much sums up why they are building foreign factories. Dont point the finger at Ford for building foreign factories, it is just trying to survive. Instead point the finger in the mirror, or your driveway.
[[not talking about you countrysquire, just quoting your article)