In a perfect world all cars would be hand built to Ferrari standards but that's just not the case in a $20,000 vehicle no matter what country makes it. Damn it we're American and American vehicles should dominate our roads! It's not because our American manufactures, it's us the consumer looking for cheaper vehicles. Look what we got ourselves into! Soon we'll be saying to all of the American car manufacturers that we all grew up loving and that built the auto industry to the giant it is.

 

I had an 05 Vibe. Worst car I've ever owned. Very dangerous in the snow. It and me were not meant to be.
Now I have Iron Man
and life is OK. The car has had a couple of teething moments as all first year ones do. No big deal. I'm hoping GM can keep the
Perceived Japanese/forign quality" thing as their goal. They have not in the past ans their sales have suffered. They road too long on the SUV craze to the detriment of their image and stockholders.

I really believe stockholders should be groomed to expect long term yields and not these crazy quick quarterly returns. Once upon a time capitalism worked. What's wrong with it now and why can we not be patient in our stock world? It is to the detriment of a lot of markets that things move so fast in stock trading these days. Somehow though, the Japanese auto manufacturers have made it work to their advantages while the US manufactures have wiled away their time on pyrite.

US auto manufacturers are just a reflection of the USA as a whole. For years the US could have worked towards getting away from the mono-dependence of foreign oil. For years we had our corporate heads in the sand even though the alarmists among us spoke otherwise. Brazil got its taste of foreign oil doom in '73 and took action. Now they are almost energy independent in the auto/petrol market. They took proactive steps.

We did not and our auto industry has not. Too many heads in the sand here. SHort term corporate profits would take a hit I guess, so no R&D into these other aspects of energy independance have been anything more than cursory exploited.

Watch the recent documentary called "Who Killed The Electric Car" for more proof of heads in the sand. No, electric cars are no answer on their own, but it is a direction that was gaining some momentum. Then, poof, all cars were not allowed to be leased again and perfectly good autos are now rotting in the desert. Further research by US car companies was halted. Time for the SUV craze to start and it did........
Silly humans..........

I tried to get a Toyota Prius as my cousin had one and in its seventh year it is finally a decent little car. Yes, the first few ears had lots of problems, but we do not hear of them do we? Why, because Toyota is quick to repair and take responsibility. That is the only way to gain a market. Keep the customer happy and coming back for more.
But my local dealers are greedy bastiches and wanted three grand over list "Because we can" so they said. I may never look at another Toyota again. Besides, I've only really bought US autos for the last thirty some odd years. 'Cept the Vibe, but that was a Pontoyota, so did it count?

 

I enjoy the HHR most of the time, I love the styling and the look and the functionality and that is why I bought it. The biggest problem with GM is a lack of respect for their consumers and, more importantly, a lack of initiative. I find that GM, I can't say I have any experience with Chrysler or Ford, just doesn't really put the money into R&D like other companies do.

Some things are so simple and cheap yet GM can't make them standard equipment. Why the HHR has rear drums I will never understand. Why no vanity mirror lights or interior dome light controls (2006) boogles my mind. There are cheaper economy cars that now offer side impact airbags as standard and GM will likely do that when the government mandates it but no sooner.

If a company is to exceed it has to be better than the competition and provide a better product but also provide forward thinking. It's too bad GM lost it's way.

 

There's the issue with American automakers! They won't make changes until the government makes it mandatory. Then they're always behind the foreign makers. They lost so much market share in the gas crisis in the '70s. Many of those foreign car owners never went back.

I always try to buy American but they don't make easy for me. If I hadn't found the HHR, I'd probably own a Suzuki, Hyundai, or Kia right now.

 

Come on......a Kia? That is truly the lowest form of vehicle.

 

HHRs are not made in the USA. They ARE foreign cars.

 

True on the Kia front. My friend has one. Kind of like a go cart. You feel every bump and it rattles apart. Now the high end Kia, the Hyundai, are good cars. They made GM extend their warranty from what I could see. I like the Entourage, it is a fine minivan as far as those things go.

 

So by your reasoning the Toyota Tundra that is built in Texas is an American truck? Dont think so. In the end its where the money goes for the R&D and the headquarters. One day the big three will see the light and bring all our manufacturing plants back into the US where they belong.

For those that didnt see it, you should check out the history channels special on the Hyundi corperation. The guy who owns it was instrumental in our efforts during the Korean war. He built all the roads and landing strips for the US goverment while we were in Korea. Out of all the Asian auto makers that is the one company I would consider giving my business to.

 

[QUOTE=Chris'sHHR;130617]One day the big three will see the light and bring all our manufacturing plants back into the US where they belong. [QUOTE]

It might be more likely that things will continue to be outsourced more and more. At some point corporate headquarters might even be moved out of the US as the industry becomes more global (the american car industry.)

I say this based on the recent news that Halliburton might, or is, moving their headquarters to Dubai. It only takes one huge corporation to start a trend.