jmboone, actually... all plants use robotics mostly now. Actual hand labor is to a minimum and tolreances are a lot tighter.

Also you guys.. keep in mind that those parts in your 'Japanese' cars are mostly American.. most of the Body Control Modules, Transmission modulesm Powertrain Modules.. are ALL American... Motorola and Visteon(Ford) are huge suppliers to foreign car companies.... just because you have a Honda/Acura.. doesnt mean it is 'Japanese' in its entirety...

And I must disagree on the Grand Prix post... the interior of that car was designed well in comparision with other American cars.. (cheap plastic, yes.. but design and layout is a lot better)....

And my 3rd American car now (corvette) I must say is built very well ... and designed very well... on one of the smallese budgets ever! I think it has to do more with the morale... I mean.. those factory workers are proud to come home saying... yes.. I work at Bowling Green, KY.. and I build Corvettes... I think workers just need some motivation....

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Eric Wong
MY 01 Magnetic Red Corvette
GF 00 Black Accord V6
EX 99 Pontiac Grand Prix GTX

If you like me then

If you want to give me crap:

 

I agree about the manufacturing being accomplished mostly through robots in these modern plants.

But about the parts content, why does it say:

American/Canadian parts content: 0%
Japanese Parts Content : 100%
Final Assembly point: Suzuka, Japan.

in my Acura Integra ?

Why does it say the same 0% American parts content and 100% Japanese parts content in the Lexus IS300/ ES300/ GS300/ GS430/ LS430/ SC430/ Acura 3.5RL ?

Why does it say, 0% American parts content and 100% Japanese parts content in the Acura NSX (whose final assembly point is Takanezawa, Japan) ? In case of the NSX, which is Hand-built , there are no robots involved in the manufacturing process.

While it says 20% Japanese parts content for the 3.2TL and 80% American/Canadian parts content for the 3.2TL ? Transmission and some other key components of the 3.2TL is made in Japan however.


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2000 Naples Gold 3.2TL/Navi - Factory Stock but with up-graded tires

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by hunter001 on April 18, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

just a thing that i wanted to add, is just think about the point of view you guys are thinking and think more over in japan, or in germany, etc.... they are all probaly thinking or saying the same thing bout their country and how they slack off and work sucks....dont know if some of you guys remember but how we are here tryin to make our cars similar to the inspire in japan while they were trying to look like our cars, everything pretty much balances out cause, "give and take", "ups and downs",. im sure in japan peepz wid inspire complainin bout squeaky seats, and in germany peeps wid mercedes just cursin off the dealership for such crappy service?!

 

Reason #1: America is filled with Homer Simpsons. Quote: "If you don't like you job, you don't quit! You do it half-assed!"

Reason #2: Instead of having a long and meaningful relationship with a part supplier, American shop seems to pick the contractor with the lowest bid. That sometime hurts quality. But this trend is starting to happen to European and Japanese cars as well to cut cost and maximum profits.

 

I disagree. Shareholders dictate the overall business strategy, period. Would a car company make a change to their production process that would cause their stock price to drop?

That's a trick question, because they go for the short-term gain and awesome golden parachute retirement package and screw long-term viability. But that still underscores the point that executives please shareholders. They probably drive Mercedes' themselves.

-Bryan