I tried to do a bit of research on US vs Foreign auto companies.. and found the usual stuff so far… but this “research” was interesting.. for myself.. Ive learned in a lot of cases to at least buy non-chinese products.. china has turned into a massive scam where cheating on product quality is rampant.. I simply refuse to buy chinese metal products.. they are in recycling shortly after being used…. when screws twist off just by being used there is a problem.. the idea of american bridegs and buildings made of chinese steel scares the P outa me…. buing this junk is being penny wise and pound foolish..
Last year I was offered a buyout from Ford (thanks UAW) and jumped on the EDOPP educational program. Being a full time student requires doing research and writting alot of papers. Naturally, I choose to research and write about the auto-industry whenever I get the chance. My last research paper was titled, “Why are Autos Made by The Big Three Important to the Economy?” In researching this paper, I learned that a “domestic” vehicle and “domestic content” is defined by the North American Free Trade Agreement as an automobile or part made in the United States, Canada, or Mexico. This could be a Chrysler, Ford, Honda, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, ect. The Federal Gov. states a vehicle can be deemed “American” as long as it contains 75% domestic content. Even though some foreign makes are made domestically with domestic content higher than 75%, the majority are not and contain no domestic content. Thomas H Klier, Economists, Federal Reserve Bank Chicago writes, “Foreign carmakers imported 44.1% of vehicles sold in the U.S. from overseas; On the other hand, 96% of vehicles sold in the U.S. by the Detroit Three were assembled in North America”. If you think that buying a foreign make is as good, or better for the American economy, you might be mistaken, Louis Uchitelle, reporter, NY Times writes, “Alan Tonelson, a researcher at the United States Business and Industry Council argues that the Big Three lift the rest of the national economy more than the transplants do, nearly every study shows that vehicles made by the Big Three contain a “considerably higher” percentage of American made parts than cars rolling off the lines at the transplants.” Chris Woodyard, reporter, USA Today writes, “Detroit’s big three derive about 77% of their parts from U.S. and Canadian factories from domestic sources. That compares with 48% which is slightly less than half for Japanese brands overall”. one thing I found interesting was that, according to The Level Field Institute or (Level Field), Ford spends more money on R&D than any other auto-manufacturer in the U.S. Our nation spends billions of dollars each year on Research and Development (R&D). Level Field writes, “Ford GM, and Chrysler represent the largest source of corporate research and development in America, In Michigan alone, more than 65,000 R&D workers represent a $10 billion/year investment resulting in roads that are four times safer and tail pipe emissions that are 99% cleaner”. In fact, “The Big Three” invest more money into research and development than the United States Government. While the Japanese auto industry only employees about 4,000 R&D workers here. According to Level Field, “Buying a Ford, GM, or Chrysler supports about 6 times more U.S. jobs, on average, than buying a Hyundai or Kia and 2.5 times more U.S. jobs, on average, than buying a Toyota”. We are told that purchasing a new vehicle is often the second largest investment that we will make in life. Based on my research, when a consumer makes the decision to invest in a foreign car or truck, he/she also decides to invest in a foreign economy. According to Level Field “The auto-industry is responsible for one out of every ten jobs in the country”. What this means is, 10% of all American jobs are somehow related to the auto industry. Level Field reports that “only 2% of the 10% is related to foreign auto jobs in the USA.” Basically, every state in the U.S. houses an auto-related industry that contributes to jobs related to manufacturing domestic automobiles. Based on my research, I would rather buy a Fusion assembled in Mexico than a Camry assembled in Kentucky.
I promise.. 
How many more of you are in the same position?
There are some darned nice American cars out there! We can save ourselves. A bailout is corporate welfare. When money is free and handed out, responsibility goes right out the window. 
Corporate greed, worker/Union greed…plenty of blame to go around.
