Information Gleaned from Domestic Content Labels
in [Toyota]
|
Prev: 92 Corolla dies suddenly, won't restart for 5 days, then starts
Next: GM Dealer Challenges the Toyota Tundra's Ads... AS BULL
From: C. E. White on 14 Mar 2007 21:58 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%. Likewise, Ford Mustangs all are claimed to have a 70% domestic content whether they are a V-6 manual, or a V-8 automatic. Clearly a V-6 Automatic Mustang, which has a German engine and a French transmission, has a much lower domestic content than a V-8 Automatic Mustang, which has US built engines and transmissions. Still they both have the same domestic content percentage shown on the label. The labels do show the country of origin for engines and transmissions and the country of assembly. I have no idea how they account for changes in demand for different version or when Toyota imports additional Camrys to meet higher than expected demand. I suppose the labels are based on projected volumes. I do not know if they are updated if reality doesn't conform to the projections. I think calling items produced in the US or Canada as "domestic" is not sensible since NAFTA was implemented. Why is Mexico treated differently than Canada? Aren't we all one big happy free trade area? I also think it is not clear how a particular component is counted as "domestic." To be counted as a "domestic fender" does the steel have to come from the US or Canada or merely be stamped out in the US or Canada? Does an electronic component have to have components sourced in the US or Canada, or just have the final assembly done in the US or Canada? 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: 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% 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
From: Jeff on 14 Mar 2007 22:32 "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%. Likewise, Ford Mustangs all > are claimed to have a 70% domestic content whether they are a V-6 manual, > or a V-8 automatic. Clearly a V-6 Automatic Mustang, which has a German > engine and a French transmission, has a much lower domestic content than a > V-8 Automatic Mustang, which has US built engines and transmissions. Still > they both have the same domestic content percentage shown on the label. > The labels do show the country of origin for engines and transmissions and > the country of assembly. I have no idea how they account for changes in > demand for different version or when Toyota imports additional Camrys to > meet higher than expected demand. I suppose the labels are based on > projected volumes. I do not know if they are updated if reality doesn't > conform to the projections. > > I think calling items produced in the US or Canada as "domestic" is not > sensible since NAFTA was implemented. Why is Mexico treated differently > than Canada? Aren't we all one big happy free trade area? I also think it > is not clear how a particular component is counted as "domestic." To be > counted as a "domestic fender" does the steel have to come from the US or > Canada or merely be stamped out in the US or Canada? Does an electronic > component have to have components sourced in the US or Canada, or just > have the final assembly done in the US or Canada? This is a result of the American Automotive Labeling Act (AALA), not NAFTA. NAFTA itself was an expansion of a law that was agreed upon with Canada (the agreement is technically not a treaty). The AALA also is known as the VIN first digit requirement act, and specifies that the first digit of the VIN reflect the US content of the vehicles, not just the US/Canadian content. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/Evaluate/809208.html This sort of answers the question about parts made in the US from foriegn material: http://www.ftc.gov/os/1997/12/epsmadeusa.htm It seems that if something is transformed in the US, then it counts as made in the US. I would think stamping steel into a bumper counts. I was yanking your chain about the VINs. Couldn't resist. The whole idea that the VIN represents content is a figment of someone's imagination. Unless he dreams in color, in which it is a pigment of his imagination. > 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: > > 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% > 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 That's good. Ford needs to sell every car it can.
From: Hachiroku ハチロク on 14 Mar 2007 22:42 On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:58:14 +0000, C. E. White wrote: > 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%. Likewise, Ford Mustangs all > are claimed to have a 70% domestic content whether they are a V-6 manual, > or a V-8 automatic. Clearly a V-6 Automatic Mustang, which has a German > engine and a French transmission, has a much lower domestic content than a > V-8 Automatic Mustang, which has US built engines and transmissions. Still > they both have the same domestic content percentage shown on the label. > The labels do show the country of origin for engines and transmissions and > the country of assembly. I have no idea how they account for changes in > demand for different version or when Toyota imports additional Camrys to > meet higher than expected demand. I suppose the labels are based on > projected volumes. I do not know if they are updated if reality doesn't > conform to the projections. > > I think calling items produced in the US or Canada as "domestic" is not > sensible since NAFTA was implemented. Why is Mexico treated differently > than Canada? Aren't we all one big happy free trade area? I also think it > is not clear how a particular component is counted as "domestic." To be > counted as a "domestic fender" does the steel have to come from the US or > Canada or merely be stamped out in the US or Canada? Does an electronic > component have to have components sourced in the US or Canada, or just > have the final assembly done in the US or Canada? > > 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: > > 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% So what this says is the Camry car line has a higher percentage of 'domestic' parts than the Mustang?!?! Cool! And that also explains why a Camry with a "J" VIN had 75% Domestic content (in 2005) > 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% 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
From: Hachiroku ハチロク on 14 Mar 2007 22:45 On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 02:32:18 +0000, Jeff wrote: > This is a result of the American Automotive Labeling Act (AALA), not > NAFTA. NAFTA itself was an expansion of a law that was agreed upon with > Canada (the agreement is technically not a treaty). > > The AALA also is known as the VIN first digit requirement act, and > specifies that the first digit of the VIN reflect the US content of the > vehicles, not just the US/Canadian content. > > http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/Evaluate/809208.html CONSUMERS' AWARENESS AND INFLUENCE BY THE AALA LABELS In a survey of 646 people who had bought or leased new vehicles during the past 6 months or were planning to do so within 3 months: * 23%* knew of the existence of the AALA label * 15%* said they had seen an AALA label * 7%* had read the label at a dealership * 5%* said they were influenced by the label to any degree whatsoever * 2%* were moderately or strongly influenced by the label because it identified the vehicle's country of assembly ! * nobody said they used the labels to comparison-shop among make-models according to their percentages of U.S./Canadian parts content I do. If I'm buying a Japanese car, I *WANT* a Japanese car!!!! One of the reasons I bought a Scion: Percentage of Domestic parts: 0%
From: C. E. White on 14 Mar 2007 23:07
"Hachiroku ????" <Trueno(a)AE86.gts> wrote in message news:go2Kh.10814$S06.10006(a)trndny08... > So what this says is the Camry car line has a higher percentage of > 'domestic' parts than the Mustang?!?! > Cool! I would guess that a Mustang GT Automatic probably has a domestic content closer to 85%, and the V-6 Automatic is probably less that 60%. But that is only a guess. > And that also explains why a Camry with a "J" VIN had 75% Domestic content > (in 2005) I imagine a "J" Camrys actually had a Domestic Content of 0%. The Domestic Content label has nothing to do with the domestic content of any particular Camry, just the theoretical average Camry sold in the US. This implies that US built 2005 Camrys must have had a Domestic Content of around 80% to offset the imported Camrys low domestic content. Ed |