GM Really Hurting

[Kanchou]

No offense, but "an arguably just as good quality piece of equipment" is an insult to Japanese manufacturers. Their material quality and refinement is far head of that from GM.

"Arguably" is not an insult, it just leaves it open to arguement, as in not putting my view ahead of others.



But my Chevy gave me 230,000 on stock internals, tranny, and everything else major except the AC.



....Yet to own a Japanese vehicle that did that.



The closest was an Isuzu PUP, and that was 130 before tranny bit.

 

[Kanchou]

Huh? AFAIK, there haven't been tariffs for a long time, the cost of doing business overseas is less, and the stupid taxes would help manufacturers who don't make here...all would seem to be the opposite of the point you are trying to make.

The cost of most general manufacturing business is less overseas. But we're talking specifically about cars. Labor and resource costs/ energy, etc, are much higher in South Korea, Japan, Britain, Germany, scandanavian countries



You have to also remember the cost of raw materials and their import/export. Does japan produce its own steel for the auto industry? Rubber? plastics? energy? any of the other things that American can produce on its own in the quantities?



There are tarrifs not only on materials, but yes, on vehicles too:



http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Business/033005_tariff.html and

http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=18991&cat=Chicken+Tax

Today, any truck made outside of North America is slapped with a 25 percent tariff before coming into the United States, virtually assuring domestically made trucks a competitive upper hand.

Bill Clinton in 1995, i think, signed a tarriff into law on Japanese luxury cars, I'm not sure if it still stands.



and this is not just in america, but in canada too.



And still, the quality and price is argueably better on these imports all thru 80s and 90s.



.....okay, i did some more digging, and by 2000 alot of the tarrifs have been lifted back to a more general 2.5~5% tarrif that is shared in other industries that i can find (except steel.) but the truck thing is still in place and certain heavy vehicles, and luxury cars, including supercars.





The one distinct disadvantage that American companies are contending with that imports don't is that, To my knowledge, the United States is the ONLY industrialized nation in the world that taxes corporations headquartered within its borders on earnings realized from overseas operations. If GM makes money in Australia, they have to pay taxes on that income in America. However If BMW makes a profit in America, they don't have to pay German taxes on them.