Check out FORD's new plant in Brazil!!!

[BigWarpGuy]

It is not easy to determine what is American made just by the name of the company. It shows Ford having a plant in Brazil. Nissan has a plant in Tennessee. Honda has a plant in California and Ohio. Subaru has a plant in Indiana. Volkswagen has (or had?) a plant in Pennsylvania. Chevrolet now makes pickup trucks for Isuzu (IIRC) where Isuzu used to make compact trucks for Chevy. Even if most of it is made here, there are parts from other countries.

The Smart Fortwo was designed by Swatch - a Swiss watch company with Mercedes - Made in France by Smart which is owned by Mercedes which is a German company and sold in the USA by Smart USA. I think it is a truly international vehicle.

[jwight]

Curtis: I will never buy a car built in that town or any other US city for that matter.

Does that include the Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus, Mercedes and BMWs made in American cities by American workers?

[lizzy321]

Originally Posted by NM_Mogman

Thanks Ford, for helping to ruin our economy by taking hundreds of jobs out of our country and market. Way to be team players when the going gets tough! I guess it is just easier to build a new plant than it is to comply with the EPA, and not to mention the workforce that is happy to do the job for mere pennies on the dollar. Good to see that Ford is so "Green" in their building too, way to save the Rain Forrests......

Sorry, if I offend anyone with that rant.....

Before you go off on a Rant, maybe you should read about the plant. Camaçari, like most of this part of Brazil, was once part of the vast Atlantic Rainforest. Little of that jungle survives today, as the land was long ago cleared for cultivation, but Ford had hoped to restore at least a small portion of it on the land surrounding the plant.

[jwight]

Originally Posted by lizzy321

Before you go off on a Rant, maybe you should read about the plant. Camaçari, like most of this part of Brazil, was once part of the vast Atlantic Rainforest. Little of that jungle survives today, as the land was long ago cleared for cultivation, but Ford had hoped to restore at least a small portion of it on the land surrounding the plant.

Another zombie thread, as in back from the dead. As for NM_Mogman, he joined in June 08, made 3 posts and vanished. Hardly call that going off on a rant.

[CruzinSusan]

"The average new manufacturing wage in America is under $20 an hour now. The plant that Ford is going to build Fiestas in in Mexico will be paying $2.25 an hour to it's assembly workers who will never be able to buy one. Alan Mullally, the president of Ford made $30 million last year.
Who's the bad guy folks? At least smarts workers make a livable wage."

The Usual Suspects...if the leadership of the Big Three had been interested in anything other than Profits at the expense of everything except what those darned regulations made them do, like safety, then the American Automotive Legacy might have been saved. They missed the brass ring.

The filthy lucre of the Masters of the Universe as gobbled up just about all the wealth here in American, so they're spreading out like the Black Slime over the globe.

Mr. Penske has done this right - he delivered his goal, and all of so many of us have bonded behind not only the smartie, but the mindset of doing it right.

We've lost the middle class because manufacturing has lost leadership, not because workers were being overpaid. Healthcare costs have crippled everything from individuals to industry. Women still make 76 cents for every dollar men earn.

This discussion has brought out excellent arguments for boycotting companies who pay literally pennies in wages to make mediocre cars or other widgets, while the fat cats earn their filthy lucre and avoid taxes. No matter the country.

I feel so many different things when I'm driving my smart, and proud is right up there.

.........zipadeedoodah.................

[Jordon]

Originally Posted by curtis

I live in the midwest and the last thing I wanna do is plop down $20,000 on a car built buy a guy who spent the weekend drunk and is building my car on a monday morning and with the UAW and the Car companies at war all the time you think the workers really have that much pride in what they are making? I don't.

Hate to quote from a year old thread someone started as a bad thing that never really was. Anyway, Curtis, do you not think that the French drink, or that take pride in building a vehicle for Americans. They know which vehicle is going to be shipped here, and the general idea overseas is that america sucks (and aparently you believe that too). Within a year we have bought a smart and an American car built by the UAW in Toledo. Smart has had to be sent back to the dealership for a week, has been in safe mode twice all within 5K miles. The UAW vehicle (3,500 miles) has yet to have anything go wrong with it. But hey, who knows, maybe in the next 1500 miles all hell will break loose.

[jetfuel]

...don't feel bad about American car companies...Chrysler announced yesterday that they were coming out of bankruptcy by opening one of their plants and started to build cars again...so..run to your dealer and buy one of these newly built Vipers...WTF

jetfuel

[jwight]

and the general idea overseas is that america sucks

Just not the case IMHO; have been all over Europe and spent a year in Turkey and that's not the way I saw it. Yeah, folks aren't totally happy with the way our government does things (just as we aren't with the way their governments do things) but the overall climate, particularly at the personal level, is not anti-American.

[pmolink]

Originally Posted by CruzinSusan

"... and all of so many of us have bonded behind not only the smartie, but the mindset of doing it right.

I am joining this zombie thread just to see if my SCOA icon shows up.

I didn't buy a smart car because of any greater cause... I bought it because it is a cool toy. It resides right next to my other toys... most of which gobble up rainforest like a pair of Brazilian glutes swallow a G string.

I'm with Curtis. I guess we have the mindset of doing it wrong.

P.S. - I see that I don't have a SCOA icon. I guess SMART must be in Brazil spending my membership fees.

[Jordon]

Originally Posted by jetfuel

...don't feel bad about American car companies...Chrysler announced yesterday that they were coming out of bankruptcy by opening one of their plants and started to build cars again...so..run to your dealer and buy one of these newly built Vipers...WTF

jetfuel

Well, it is a vehicle they make a profit on, and if I could afford one I'd have one. It was also probably one of the easiest factories to open, hand built cars, all they needed to do is get the employees back to the factory. They announced today they are opening up a few more as well. Im just happy to see the Jeep plant will be back up and running.