Nationalism yes, but “Pointless nationalism”? They left off a key word in that.
from rdyoung’s comment
it’s better for the environment to
Pointlessly shipping material from one side of the world to the other, then back isn’t good for the environment. It may be good for the economy, but a few nations economy isn’t the whole picture.
I don’t dispute the benefit of producing cars on home soil, wherever that home soil is. My snideness was in regards to the PR aspect of it. I can pretty much guarantee, that at no point did anyone at any of these companies make a decision with this league table in mind. It just seems to be, “America, fuck yeah!” for the sake of it.
I think it’s more of a “we don’t want covid supply chains V2” with a bonus of “why not benefit Americans too?” Plus are you really buying an “American” car if it’s made in Malaysia?
A Ford and a Kia might be in the same category of car, but they’re almost not comparable.
Take the 2017 Ford Focus vs the 2017 Kia Forte, two cars my friend was looking at buying. The Focus sure ain’t a sports car, but it handles well for a cheap compact sedan. The Forte handles like a tin can on wheels. The wheels are 10mm smaller at every tire size vs the Focus, the suspension is both firmer, and less precise (incorrectly balanced spring rate vs dampening vs rebound) and because of that the car reorientates itself on every big bump you hit, bumps that the Focus handles fine. The wheel well liner is made out of hard plastic on the Kia, the Focus is plastic, but with a cloth liner on it to reduce road noise. And sounds like there’s no sound deadening anywhere in the cabin. The Focus is surprisingly quiet of a cabin for a car of it’s price point. The 2017 Focus has a rear view camera as standard, the Forte it’s optional.
The base model Focus starts at $16,775, the Forte starts at $16,600
According to the NHTSA the Focus scores 5 stars on every category except rollover. The Forte scores 5 stars in only 8/12 categories. I can’t find any of the updated crash test ratings for these vehicles, but recently they updated the side crash test ratings and a bunch of the “safe on paper” cars tanked in their rating. But both vehicles I’m sure are only safe on paper.
Plus nowadays there’s a much bigger difference between the two cars. The Kia lacks an immobilizer. Until 2021 Kias with a standard key lacked an immobilizer which is absolutely inexcusable. So that $500 you saved on the initial purchase price translates to $500 extra paid per year.
Nationalism yes, but “Pointless nationalism”? They left off a key word in that.
from rdyoung’s comment
Pointlessly shipping material from one side of the world to the other, then back isn’t good for the environment. It may be good for the economy, but a few nations economy isn’t the whole picture.
I don’t dispute the benefit of producing cars on home soil, wherever that home soil is. My snideness was in regards to the PR aspect of it. I can pretty much guarantee, that at no point did anyone at any of these companies make a decision with this league table in mind. It just seems to be, “America, fuck yeah!” for the sake of it.
I think it’s more of a “we don’t want covid supply chains V2” with a bonus of “why not benefit Americans too?” Plus are you really buying an “American” car if it’s made in Malaysia?
I hear you, but does it benefit Americans when the reality is that cars produced on American soil are more expensive.
If the car costs $1000 more, but pays American workers $5,000 does that benefit Americans more?
Yeah, but it’s not just a thousand dollars, it’s like ten times that.
For the same car? And with or without exploitative labor practices?
The only reason they make cars in places like China or Malaysia is because they can pay them almost nothing, and treat them like slaves.
What I mean is for an equivalent. If you compare the price of a Ford to a Kia, the Kia is cheaper.
A Ford and a Kia might be in the same category of car, but they’re almost not comparable.
Take the 2017 Ford Focus vs the 2017 Kia Forte, two cars my friend was looking at buying. The Focus sure ain’t a sports car, but it handles well for a cheap compact sedan. The Forte handles like a tin can on wheels. The wheels are 10mm smaller at every tire size vs the Focus, the suspension is both firmer, and less precise (incorrectly balanced spring rate vs dampening vs rebound) and because of that the car reorientates itself on every big bump you hit, bumps that the Focus handles fine. The wheel well liner is made out of hard plastic on the Kia, the Focus is plastic, but with a cloth liner on it to reduce road noise. And sounds like there’s no sound deadening anywhere in the cabin. The Focus is surprisingly quiet of a cabin for a car of it’s price point. The 2017 Focus has a rear view camera as standard, the Forte it’s optional.
According to cars.com: Focus - Forte
The base model Focus starts at $16,775, the Forte starts at $16,600
According to the NHTSA the Focus scores 5 stars on every category except rollover. The Forte scores 5 stars in only 8/12 categories. I can’t find any of the updated crash test ratings for these vehicles, but recently they updated the side crash test ratings and a bunch of the “safe on paper” cars tanked in their rating. But both vehicles I’m sure are only safe on paper.
Plus nowadays there’s a much bigger difference between the two cars. The Kia lacks an immobilizer. Until 2021 Kias with a standard key lacked an immobilizer which is absolutely inexcusable. So that $500 you saved on the initial purchase price translates to $500 extra paid per year.
They’re more expensive because they don’t exploit slave labor…
I mean… https://lemmy.ml/post/15584080
You mean what
That story and subsequent discussion. Can you not see the link contents?