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American Made?
Correct me if I am wrong.
I know this car is going to be 'assembled' in California, and the battery is manufactured through Panasonic.
What about the other materials. Are they American made? Specifically, I hope this car is not just gathering parts made from all across the world and then it is just assembled in California.
Anyone know otherwise?
I know this car is going to be 'assembled' in California, and the battery is manufactured through Panasonic.
What about the other materials. Are they American made? Specifically, I hope this car is not just gathering parts made from all across the world and then it is just assembled in California.
Anyone know otherwise?
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Comments
The batteries are manufactured in Japan (I believe), but the cells are built into the battery pack down in California.
If you get right down to it, almost NOTHING is made "entirely" in any one country. Parts come from here or there, stuff is fabricated here or there.
American Muscle car reborn ---- build in Canada. Really defeats the purpose.
Plus it would be nice to have an American car to be able to compete with the German brands in a ring.
I do stand by the fact that it would be nice to have an American made car that can compete with the German brands.
Camaro being "built" in Canada, I believe you mean "assembled"
in Canada. GM uses a ton of Chinese made parts and has for many, many years now. With their UAW labor costs, there is no possible way for them to compete except by buying as many parts as possible
from non-union areas, which means outside the US. At $142K per year for a UAW guy bolting fenders on, there wouldn't be anything they could build that would be even remotely competitive, price wise.
Look at the big 3 "American" car companies today. Their cars and parts are made and assembled all over the world, while many "foreign" car companies assembly their cars here.
We're all becoming one big happy family. Embrace it.
Now if you look at another battery car, steel is from India (most likely recycled), Same sourcing from batteries and electronics (but may be getting stuff from China), Interior from Mexico, motor materials sourced from China (use rare earths in motor).
For and ICE car, steel from India, motor and transmission from Mexico (bought enough crate engines to know). Other parts probably same as Tesla or other battery car.
If I had a choice I would take the Tesla sourcing over other cars any day of the week.
What I was trying to get across was that a car touted as being "all American", still has parts ( the paint in this case) that come from outside the US. The order that I placed for my Mustang is currently on hold while Ford tries to determine if they have enough paint to paint my car the color I want.
Go with Henry Ford Black.
When the AMERICAN car companies folder into Chapter 11, the UAW and CAW acted like total idiots. The CAW eventually remitted and took big pay cuts and compensation package reductions. We still lost multiple plants, but we were not impacted nearly as much as the UAW.
Ford is closing a plant next month too.
All 3 of my buddies went into automotive engineering. All work for auto parts manufactures and all offer OEM and after market parts. None have plants in North America. They are all in Crotia and China. They were forced to do this as Americans had already lowered production costs to rock bottom by using these two countries.
And now for reality.........
"Buy American" is a phrase invented by politicians in the USA to get themselves votes. When you delve into it, there isn't much revelance at all. Not only that, there isn't any compliance at all. Why, you ask? If Americans had the slightest interest in "Buy American" absolutely every Wal-mart in the country would be empty as 99.9% of the junk in there comes from China!!!! And I'll bet you and your wife have no issue shopping there.
Canadians build cars cheaper than Americans. Period. Cars assembled in Canada have a much higher quality level too. Period. Both of these points are valid for many years. Car makers don't put plants in Canada to be nice to us, they do it because of our price points and our quality.
If your "muscle car" was designed and built in the USA entirely, it would costs 2x-3x as much and the first few generations would break down a lot. Be thankful your "American" car is assembled in Canada with parts from all over the world, mostly China.
The world moving towards being an almost fully integrated society and for the USA to remove itself and be a stand-alone country will takes decades of careful planning. As of right now, the USA is not capable of supplying it owns needs. Not even close.
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As a side bar, this applies to many industries too, even something as simple as landscaping. Americans talk about kicking out 10 million Mexicans, but do you really know the impact of this? Say goodbye to your $8/hr cash landscaper and lawn cutter. He is now $15-$25hr. Even the American companies you hire to cut your lawn are most likely using Mexicans and paying them under the table, while the owner sits in the truck reading the news paper. My mom lives in Phoenix and 100% of all landscaping is done by Mexicans. Even my mom uses them, but she never complains about it.
I just like Mustangs }BD
Now for Mustangs......You are preaching to choir my friend. I absolutely love high end Mustangs too. First car I ever drove as a 16yr old, was my mom's Mustang. I almost ordered one too, but could not get exactly what I wanted for the price I needed. I was going to order a 2010 Mustang Shelby GT-500 Convertible. I wanted even more upgrades, which my local dealer said wern't possible. So I phoned the Shelby Shop that does the customization of the cars right off the Ford line. They set me up with another $28,000USD in options. Better supercharger, tons of steering/handling, better exhaust, brakes, clutch, everything. Basically a Stage 2/3 layout, only much better handling. I had to pay the USD direct to Shelby. No problem there. The issue was that my dealer wanted to slap on a "buyers premium" on top of the $28k USD of another $15kCDN. The deal dropped. I sent letters to Shelby, Ford USA, Ford Canada and Ford Ontario. Only Shelby responded back.
Good thing ultimately, now I'm setup to spend slightly more cash on a much better car. In my case #S-51. I get the 51st Signature in Canada and it will be totally loaded.
Wish I could wait, but unhappily I new a new ride this year, so I won't be getting my Tesla until a few years down the road.
I think what most folks don't realize is that American car development focused on what Americans wanted, which was entirely different than what Europeans wanted. Americans wanted very big cars with tons of trunk space, seating and lots of flashy looks. The remainder of cars were focued on the "drag racing" model. That was ultra high horse power cars, mininal creature comforts and these cars were VERY good at going in a straight line. Not alot was done in the handling department. Recent focus has been on econo-buckets with max MPG.
Europeans wanted smaller cars with higher top end speeds and handled flawlessly. They still demand this to this day. There is a reason why you can take a BMW or a Porsche or a Mercedes Benz into an interstate cloverleaf at 60miles with no concern. They been honing that handling requirement for decades. I've driven Mustangs and I owned a 1971 Chev Impala Conv for many many years. Neither of these cars handeld well in high speed corners.
Now before you folks jump on me for my small market segment, I have been computer consulting contracting in the USA for over 10yrs (2000-2010) and I rented a car every week from Thrify Car Rentals acheiving the highest possible level of Blue Chip status. I drove primarily Ford and Chrysler products, but a huge chunk of their lines, includes some trucks and SUVs. Think of it as about 450 test drives that lasted 3 days each. I know their cars VERY VERY well.
No surprise, some cars blow chunks, some were awesome. Some were great deals considering the sub $15k purchase price. Each car is marketed towards an exact segment of population. You need to buy the exact car that fits your lifestyle for the next 10yrs. That may be a $13k Ford Focus or a $90k Lincoln Navigator or a $60k 300 SRT8.
For me, that car is a 2012 Telsa Model S Signature, loaded to the hilt.