70% of Japanese vehicles sold in America are built here, too

Doesn't that destroy the whole reason for buying a Japanese car? The efficiency of the Japanese factory and factory practices.

How do American built Japanese cars compare to the American built American brands? Or are American brands built elsewhere? I know the Jeep I had was junk and made in Mexico - not really the 'American Dream' it was advertised as!

I know the UK built Nissans are world beaters and a far cry from the unreliable junk put out by UK car brands (Rover, Leyland etc) in the 1970's/1980's.

BBC News - Analysis: What is behind Nissan UK's success?
BBC News - Nissan Sunderland breaks UK manufacturing record

 

I wonder how this fraction compares to American branded vehicles.

Though the build timeframes do not overlap, I have been far happier with my American built Japanese cars than my American built American cars. The problems with the later were not with where they were built, but rather how they were built and designed.

 

Thank you for that post and information now i can throw that at people who argue still about how Japanese cars owned by Americans put Amaricans out of jobs. Last week i saw several bumper stickers about buy American cars save jobs in America. Did Toyota ever make a Chevrolet ? What about the jobs at dealerships,parts stores and repair shops. The fact that many parts from Japanese manufactures are used in and have been used in American cars like Dodge, saturn for engines and a host of electronics like circuit boards. How many German cars are here and how many complain ?

 

Most people don't realize how global things are or that Walmart does not sell that many American made items. How many Military contracts do you think we have with companies that have headquarters outside the United States that make jet fighters, ships,tanks and all sorts of military hardware and equipment.

 

We have had 3 American built Japanese cars and they were all nearly problem free for ~200,000k miles and ~105k miles that we had them and the one we now have is at -40k miles and has had no problems.

The problem isn't American workers, it's American management.

 

I think this also applies to the UK. Our workers make great Nissans, Toyotas and Hondas and these factories break production records etc, but it's a complete contrast to Rover, Land Rover, Leyland, Triumph which were piss poor.

 

Piss poor is right ,i had an MG. I was told the reason Englishmen drank warm beer was because Lucas made their refridgerators.

 

I would somewhat disagree, it is not management only. Also some design issues, quality control on input parts and production, contracts awarded to cheapest bidder.

 

I always remember Jeremy Clarksons review of the (then new) Chrysler/Dodge Neon "Here is a car that is quite clearly built to the lowest tender". It wasn't a good review.

 

Similarly, the American-built Japanese-label cars generally have a considerable quantity of American-sourced parts.

 

Those are all management problems. Management gets the behavior that it rewards.

 

Perhaps in theory, but in practice as you allude to in your next paragraph all I (and anybody should) care about are manufacturing processes. If repeated at par with the homeland it doesn't matter if the cars are made in North Korea.

 

The production of any vehicle has been and is becoming more and more automatically an international affair. Even if you separate this operation from where the vehicle is ultimately assembled. Parts are often sourced from vendors world wide.

I selfishly wish the best, and hope for the best for American car companies such as Ford and GM.

But despite the fact that Toyota is a Japanese based company? An automaker as large as Toyota is a world wide operation. Toyota USA is the USA.

We've long ago passed the point where automobiles were produced and assembled primarily from one location. Parts are outsourced and vendors exist everywhere. Where the vehicle is ultimately assembled? It's a factor to whatever cities local economy, and the national economy of that nation BUT some companies are larger than that single reality. Toyota is one of those companies.