Hey guys, I was talking to a relative who used to work for GM (works at Allison Transmission); and we were going over this whole mess about GM.

The fact is, GM, Ford, and Chrysler all need to sell cars.

Instead of a huge govt bailout for the domestic auto manufacturers. Why not over a decent Tax Break for purchasing a domestic automobile?

What would this do?

1) Help bring much needed sales to the domestic auto industry.
2) Not only help the auto mfgs, but also the economy.
3) Get people who may not buy american into an american vehicle and hopefully they'd realize the improved GM, etc...

It may not solve all of the problems, but it sounded like a good idea that could be part of a solution. What do you all think?

To me they should do something, hell they asked the domestic auto manufactuers to help spur the economy after 9/11. I think to an extent they owe them something back...

 

That sounds like a fantastic idea to me. It keeps American companies afloat and American workers productive.

 

To be fair that should make the deduction for cars with XX% of American content that are also built in the USA.

This will prevent the foreign companies from crying fowl and get them to build more here, and stop the American companies from outsourcing to China

 

In TX, we get charged sales tax on the car, so there is a deduction for it, but it is for any car that you buy.

 

Absolutely not. I'll let others dive into the can of worms you just opened.

 

Saying that will probably get you a lot of abuse.

The only thing that's important to some is the nameplate on the car...other issues such as where the parts came from, "who" made them, where the car was assembled, etc. is usually a secondary issue at best.

 

some sort of "incentive" to purchase a vehicle from the Big three can help address the issue of sales but it doesn't help with the companies profitability. Maybe as part of a larger solution it could be useful but it would be short term only.

Regardless of what is done it all comes back to a failed business. You can't move forward if the underlying business is fatally flawed

 

Contrary to some popular beliefs, that nameplate still says a lot about the foreign/domestic makeup of a vehicle. Check the statistics.

 

It's not a matter of "belief", popular or otherwise...the truth is on the window sticker of each new vehicle.

All manufacturers, including Detroit nameplates, are sourcing more and more of their parts from whoever gives them the best deal and if you really want GM and Ford and Chrysler to stick around long term; you had better hope they keep doing so.

Vehicle for vehicle, the transplants are doing nearly the same as the "Domestics" when it comes to where the parts are coming from but when you look at the trend year on year, it's the Domestics who's North American parts content is slipping the most.

 

Interesting, since I could have sworn I saw a recent breakdown where on the whole, GM's NA content was around 77%, Ford's was slightly less, whereas "ToyoHondissan" was somewhere in the upper 30's/low 40's. I know it has been posted here before.

 

That wouldn't put more money in GM's accounts right now. They're worried about making it to the end of the year without tens of billions in aid. No amount of increased sales is going to fix that.

 

Maybe both...

 

Fine, find me a few examples of a transplant vehicle made in North America that has a NA parts content in the "30's/low 40's%...I won't say there is none because I don't follow every model from every manufacturer but I suspect your memory is less than accurate.

In the meantime, I suggest you checkout www.cars.com or NHTSA.

 

I'm not sure why the burdon of proof falls on me rather than you, but when I get some time I will find the post(s). I know Scott has posted the numbers before.

 

Exactly. There are some very real flaws on the consumer side of the equation right now which renders any tax incentives for purchasing moot. These flaws aren't just affecting Detroit either. Even the people who do have good enough credit scores to borrow money right now are skiddish about the economy, enough to make a major purchase like a car seem unwise.