<< Compare a Japanese vehicle THAT'S MADE HERE, IN THE USA with an American vehicle (obviously made here in the USA) and the difference in quality control is very obvious. That and the quality of materials used is very different as well. >>
Complete, utter BS ... there is no difference in QC these days, and as for materials, they all come from the same suppliers and the fact is that Japanese vehicles often have LOWER quality standards and specifications for components/materials. As an Eng. Director/former designer with 25 yrs. of experience in the industry and working for a Tier One supplier (spunoff from a "Major") to almost every major automotive nameplate in the world, I've got facts not fiction. And I'm regularly on location at all of the "major assemblers", so I see how they build their cars; in fact, the only major car companies in the world whose operations I am not familiar with/do not visit, are the Korean assemblers, and I imagine I will soon be hooking up with what is left of Daewoo as we are buying them out. Harp all you want about the aesthetics of design of American cars, I too am not always thrilled with some of the styles, as well as interior designs. But denigrating a company or industry in general (ie. American originals) on the basis of aesthetics of design is hogwash. In the bigger scope of things, style or looks has nothing to do with quality, performance, or product life.
As for the poll, I obviously buy/drive an American car, and not a Japanese-owned (or any other foreign-owned) built-in-America. I have nothing against most of those companies though, and do business with all of them, and most of them are indeed excellent manufacturer's. But there is one company who I will not support, and that is Honda of N. America. Sorry to say, but the moral conscience and soul of that company died along with Mr. Honda in '92. In order to get a typical manufacturing job at Honda now days, you must hire in as a temp, through an agency, and with little/no benefits. The going rate is $9.35 to $10-something, depending on shift. You are not asked if you want to work OT, you are told. Otherwise, hit the door. If you persist long enough, maybe after working as a temp for 2 years or more, you might get lucky and get on full-time, but your chances are not great. Mgmt. treats these "slaves" like dirt, and there are definite lines of demarcation from full-time worker to "temp" as far as treatment. We're talking about jobs that are very hard work, under difficult and dangerous conditions, and often with long-term effects (ergonomics can never totally prevent injury from repetitive motion work). Yet Honda pays them the wages of a fast food employee, and treats them perhaps even worse. But it's not like the full-time workers are exactly happy either, Honda is trying to renege on their retirement program/benefits. The UAW may have lost the recent battle with other Japanese companies to organize their N. American workers, but there's a real good chance that the UAW will win the vote of Honda of America workers. And if they are able to withstand the intimidation and other threats/techniques that are typically used by a Japanese parent company to keep an Union out, and are somehow able to still get enough workers to vote to join the Union, Honda will get their just reward.