marauder307
03-03-2006, 01:46 PM
At least in this day and age...
I hate to see the dissolution of American makes but it is happening.
This line, from the "No more SVT?" thread, has got me thinking. Brace yourselves....
This is a subject that hits home for me, for BigSlim, UAW588, and probably a few others. To reiterate/extend the question: What is an American car, when so many foreign car companies build here in America?
Honda has their Ohio plant; it's been open for quite a while now, I think almost 20 years. Our own great American muscle cars were actually built in St. Thomas, Ontario---in Canada. (Oh Canada!) In my own home state---Alabama---M-B has a plant in the Tuscaloosa area (Holt, to be exact) and they're turning out SUVs. Hyundai just set up a plant within the last 3 years in Montgomery---my hometown---and they're turning out the new Sonatas. I rented one from Enterprise RentaCar over this last Christmas---they're okay I guess, but they're no Marauder.
So what is an American car anymore? We can't shun the foreign automakers because their products aren't built here---shoot, they're here now. Conversely, do we shun our own beloved Ford, for sending jobs south of the national border? Those Fusion/Milan/Zephyr cars? They're built in Hermosillo, Mexico....and (BigSlim can probably confirm/deny this) I'm pretty sure UAW isn't involved in that assembly line.
I dunno...maybe I just don't have enough to do with my day. But this is one of those philosophical questions that's driving me nuts. I'm no particular fan of Hyundai. I lived in South Korea for a couple of years in the mid-80's; they're building the durn things out of recycled beer cans. But if I don't buy a Sonata, I'm taking money away from a fellow Montgomerian. Makes me wonder...I hope it makes you wonder too.
Thanks for reading. :bows:
I hate to see the dissolution of American makes but it is happening.
This line, from the "No more SVT?" thread, has got me thinking. Brace yourselves....
This is a subject that hits home for me, for BigSlim, UAW588, and probably a few others. To reiterate/extend the question: What is an American car, when so many foreign car companies build here in America?
Honda has their Ohio plant; it's been open for quite a while now, I think almost 20 years. Our own great American muscle cars were actually built in St. Thomas, Ontario---in Canada. (Oh Canada!) In my own home state---Alabama---M-B has a plant in the Tuscaloosa area (Holt, to be exact) and they're turning out SUVs. Hyundai just set up a plant within the last 3 years in Montgomery---my hometown---and they're turning out the new Sonatas. I rented one from Enterprise RentaCar over this last Christmas---they're okay I guess, but they're no Marauder.
So what is an American car anymore? We can't shun the foreign automakers because their products aren't built here---shoot, they're here now. Conversely, do we shun our own beloved Ford, for sending jobs south of the national border? Those Fusion/Milan/Zephyr cars? They're built in Hermosillo, Mexico....and (BigSlim can probably confirm/deny this) I'm pretty sure UAW isn't involved in that assembly line.
I dunno...maybe I just don't have enough to do with my day. But this is one of those philosophical questions that's driving me nuts. I'm no particular fan of Hyundai. I lived in South Korea for a couple of years in the mid-80's; they're building the durn things out of recycled beer cans. But if I don't buy a Sonata, I'm taking money away from a fellow Montgomerian. Makes me wonder...I hope it makes you wonder too.
Thanks for reading. :bows: