So I'm watching the new season of 24 and when Jack is walking back to his truck at the oil rigs and I see it's a Tundra. He'll give his life for his country but he won't buy domestic. lol.

 

I noticed that too.

 

That's what I said when I saw that.

 

The Tundra is a good truck.

 

I am sure Jack Bauer doesn't care what kind of truck it is. He probably has bigger things on his mind.

 

Toyota bought Day 5 essentially. I could tell when I watched the teaser thing off the DVD. That is why Chloe has a Prius, Jack was in a Camry in the teaser and now a Tundra. I liked the CTU Explorers with all the goodies in the back.

 

First, it was GM vehicles. Then Ford. Now it's Toyota time.

Having said that, what is this doing outside the lounge?

 

The all new Tundra that's coming out in a few months will be built in the all new San Antonio plant with its motors coming out of the all new Alabama motor plant and the majority of its parts domestically sourced.

That's more American than many of the 'domestic' trucks these days.

 

With the profits heading back to Japan...

Even if the Toyota were 100% sourced 'locally' it will never be American (for the reason stated above).

 

Next thing y'know he'll be driving a chinese made SUV. lol they tried to send him to prison last season.

 

Do you actually have a % content of domestic vs. foreign for the new Tundra and the domestic trucks you're referring to?

Chris

 

That's kinda why I wish our other 'big two' would merge with big companies on other continents (maybe the Koreans and the Japanese). That way it's kinda like diversifying your portfolio. Chrysler becoming DC was one of the best things that could have happened for them and for the newly forming global economy as well, IMO.

That stuff is hard to dig up but pay attention to window stickers next time you're out, you may be surprised. I know the Ram, for example, is made in Mexico and on average only 70% of its parts are domestically sourced (which also includes Canada so not sure what % is actually US). Furthermore they're half-owned by a German company now.

Yet I'm sure bubba down the block would give ya a high-5 for buying one as compared to the evil eye if he saw you pull up in a Tundra. I know the current Tundra is built in Indiana, though I can't seem to find its parts content. Let me know if you can find it. It may not still be on par with, say, the Ram, but I'd bet ya with the 2007 model it's going to be damn near 100% with the Indiana, San Antonio, and Alabama plants running full time making parts.

Did you know that 85% of Honda Accords made in the last 5 years have had a 97% domestic part content or greater, and almost all Accords have been built in Marysville, Ohio for the last 20+ years?

 

Again, where does the profit go? Does it go back into the American economy? Sure, some of it does -- but the majority goes overseas.

BTW, you can see some of GM's Silverado & Ford's F150 models appear to have 90% American content, as per: http://www.usstuff.com/cars2005.htm. Appears to decrease slightly dependant upon model/trim/engine, etc.

 

OK so, just for example, if you have a car, say a "domestic" car that has a 30,000 dollar price tag, but it is only 60% domestic part content and is built in Mexico. Then 40% of the parts in that car, which let's say the parts to make that 30k dollar car cost 20,000. So now 8000 dollars of your money is going to outside of the US. Now let's say it costs about 3000 all inclusive for the labor and all the logistics that go along with building that car, which is going to Mexico.

So now 11,000 out of the 30,000 has left the US economy. So we have 7000 dollars left... say 4000 goes to R&D which is probably domestic, 1000 goes to marketing, and 1000 of it is profit.

Now in the end I really have to ask you, how does the 1000 or so dollars of profit that a manufacturer might see if it's LUCKY, per vehicle sold, compare to 8000 dollars in overseas parts or 3000 dollars in labor?

Marketing is of course almost always domestically spent no matter which company is in question, and these days R&D is often times majority domestic even by foreign companies because our cars are built specifically for our markets.

So no, I'm still not trying to say that on average a 'foreign brand' vehicle is better than a domestic brand vehicle, but I AM saying that there are MANY cases where that is true, so you can't just make blind statements like 'well where does the profit go?' because the profit is a VERY small slice of the pie when compared to all the other money that may potentially get sent overseas in the production and development process.

 

But, it's just not that simple:

Where is the frame engineered? The transmission? The engine? The body panels? Where are the vehicle's designers -- interior and exterior? GM, being NA in origin, still has a large percent of these functions in the US (to a significant cost detriment). While some of Toyota's design and engineering work is done here, a vast, vast majority is still done in Japan. Lastly, GM being union, pays it's employees far more than Toyota does -- and as a result, pumps a LOT more money into the American economy than a Toyota or a Honda workforce. When it comes to putting dollars back into the American economy, I think a Toyota/Honda/Nissan would pale in comparison to GM or Ford -- and I don't think it would even be close. Just take a look at the number of people employeed alone; GM and Ford's presense in the American workplace towers above any other auto manufacturers. BTW, the current Tundra has a paulty 35% domestic content -- pretty shabby in comparison to GM and Ford's 90%.