Information Gleaned from Domestic Content Labels
in [Toyota]
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From: DH on 15 Mar 2007 11:16 "C. E. White" <cewhite(a)mindspring.com> wrote in message news:WK1Kh.12819$tD2.11612(a)newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net... >I am curious about the domestic content of various cars, so I stopped by a >couple of car dealers last night to check out the domestic content labels. >In 35 years of car buying, I never recall seeing one. But, sure enough, >they were on most cars and light trucks on the lots. I wonder where they go >when I test drive a car? Apparently they are not required on heavy duty >trucks (like an F250). > > The labels list the percentage of domestic content for a "Car Line" not > for the particular car you are looking at. And it is not even for the cars > from a particular plant. It is domestic content of the theoretical volume > weighted average member of a "Car Line." This means that no matter what > Camry you look at, no matter where it was actually built, the domestic > content label is going to show the same percentage of domestic content. > This is why Camrys built in Japan are still labeled as having 80% domestic > content. The particular Camry built in Japan might have 0% domestic > content, but when all Camrys (and Solaras) sold in the US are averaged > together, the average domestic content is 80%. Since about 20% of Camrys are still built in Japan, this implies the existence of Camrys that are 100% American. So, if I want an American car, I should run down to my Toyota dealer and simply pick one that was assembled here. Thanks for the tip. [snip] > My opinion is that he Domestic Content Labels are not particularly useful, > and that they may actually be misleading. They do not reflect the domestic > content of the actual car you are looking at, but rather they are the > average domestic content for cars in that particular car line. Regardless > of their usefulness, here is what the labels claim for various car lines: To put a label on the car that says, "the domestic content of THIS car is XX%" would require additional work that some car companies probably don't want to do. Wouldn't surprise me if their lobbyists worked against such a requirement. > Toyota 4Runner - 0% > Toyota Siena - 80% > Toyota Highlander - 5% > Toyota Prius - 0% > Toyota Matrix - 70% > Toyota Corolla - 60% > Toyota Tacoma - 65% > Toyota Avalon - 75% > Toyota Camry / Solara - 80% > Scion xA, xB, xC - 0% > Toyota Yaris - 0% > Toyota Tundra (new version) - 75% > Toyota RAV4 - 0% > Ford Ranger - 80% > Ford F150 - 90% > Ford Mustang - 70% > Ford Escape - 2007 - 80%, 2008 - 65% > Ford Edge / Lincoln MXK - 95% > Ford Five Hundred / Mercury Montego - 80% > Ford Freestyle - 85% > Ford Explorer / Mercury Mountaineer - 80% > Ford Fusion / Mercury Milan / Lincoln MKZ - 50% Are ALL of those assembled in Mexico or is there a US factory, too? The Hermosillo plant is profiled in the "Bold Moves" video on the Fusion but whether or not there's also a US plant is unclear. > Ford Crown Victoria / Mercury Grand Marquis / Lincoln Town Car - 90% > > One thing I found interesting was the sparce number of Ford Fusions on the > lots at Ford dealers. I stopped at two Ford dealers and there was a total > of 6 Fusions on the lots. I assume this means they are selling really > well. > > Ed Now, if the run of the mill Camry is 80% domestic and most are also assembled here, is that car more or less "American" than a Fusion built of 50% non-US parts that is then assembled in Mexico? -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
From: Built_Well on 16 Mar 2007 13:13 Ed White wrote: > But I do know that the domestic contnet labels for several > Toyota models show 75% or higher domestic content. ======== Umm, I don't want to be mean, but your remark there is another error. The content labels do not show "domestic" content, meaning United States content. They show the parts content percentage from the United States *AND* Canada together. Not the U.S.A. alone. Again, I quote the content label I saw yesterday morning on the Toyota lot: "Parts Content information for vehicles in this *CARLINE*: U.S./*CANADA* parts content: 75% That's "U.S./Canada" combined, not U.S. alone. So technically Mike still could be right when he says a "1" VIN must contain 75% "U.S." content or more. The VIN regulations were drafted before the Content Sticker regulations were created. But you do bring up some good points. And if I were Mike, I'd be sweating a little right now. Though, I repeat, he has not been disproven yet.
From: Jeff on 16 Mar 2007 13:20 "Built_Well" <Built_Well_Toyota(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:1174065187.216010.123510(a)d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... > Ed White wrote: >> But I do know that the domestic contnet labels for several >> Toyota models show 75% or higher domestic content. > ======== > > Umm, I don't want to be mean, but your remark there is > another error. > > The content labels do not show "domestic" content, meaning > United States content. > > They show the parts content percentage from the United > States *AND* Canada together. Not the U.S.A. alone. Yeap, that is, when talking about cars, what domestic content means. Jeff
From: Mike Hunter on 16 Mar 2007 14:04 Do you own homework, WBMA mike "Jeff" <news(a)googlemail.com> wrote in message news:PqfKh.16524$2%3.6653(a)trndny06... > > "Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2(a)mailcity.com> wrote in message > news:PLOdnYnJCNHQ42TYnZ2dnUVZ_vCknZ2d(a)ptd.net... >> You are free to believe whatever you choose but as one might expect you >> are incorrect, not all Hondas assembled in the US have a '1.' Not all >> Toyotas have a '4' Does it not make you curious as to why Toyota would >> be assigned a '4' and '5,' as a world manufacturer as you want to >> believe, and Nissan who began assembly in the US long after Toyota would >> gets a '1?' Don't you find it strange, following your logic that ALL of >> the '1s' would be assigned before they 'ran out' of '1s' as you believe, >> before they would issue 4 and 5? I told you a dozen times were to >> search. I could not care less whether you do so, or not >> >> mike > > What I find curious is that you have provied no verifiable evidence that > anything you say is correct. > Jeff
From: Mike Hunter on 16 Mar 2007 14:13
Certainly everybody is entitled to an opinion and is free to buy whatever they choose but you can't prove to me that Japanese cars are any better than domestics. None of the dozen or so Japanese cars I have ever owned were any batter than the domestics I now drive. The only real difference I found was the Japanese cars cost me more to buy and maintain, so I switched back to domestics ;) mike "Hachiroku ????" <Trueno(a)ae86.gts> wrote in message news:3SgKh.19787$d8.2615(a)trndny07... > On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 11:11:41 -0400, C. E. White wrote: > >> I think the labels hurt the sale of "domestic" vehicles since >> some people apparently would refer their car to be assembled in Japan >> by Japanese workers. I guess they like the idea of being an economic >> colony of Japan. > > Doesn't bother me a whole lot. Hate to say it, but the Japanese made cars > are made better... > > > |