The automobile industry is truly a global industry, no doubt. American makes are built in Canada and Mexico, as well as other places. And there are a lot of Japanese cars built in the U.S. You just have to think of it as where do the profits go? I have always thought it was interesting how some of my fellow union workers talk about how important it is to support the Teamsters, but when I go to a meeting at my Local, there are foreign cars in the parking lot. I will admit I am a little prejudiced on this matter, as my brother is an "overpaid union worker" at GM. I don't blame the assembly line workers for some of the crappy cars from the Big Three, they are just "working as directed". I understand the high labor costs, but I don't understand how the domestic corporate world in the automotive industry has sat back for decades and allowed the overseas makers to take away so much of their market share.
The American companies are starting to do better. According to my latest issue of "Consumer Reports", the top three in order are Honda, Subaru, then Toyota. (Toyota has slipped because of problems with the new V6 Camry and V8 4x4 Tundra). Ford has greatly improved. Ninety-three per cent of their models now rate average or better in predicted reliability. This is compared to 49% for GM and 67% for Chrysler. I have never bought a Ford until I bought an XLT Escape for my wife a couple of days ago. It was built in St. Louis.