I've noticed that many "American" cars have gone from about 90% US/Canadian parts to generally about 60% in just the last few years. (Meanwhile, many Japanese cars have increased to 80% US/Canadian content). This may have a lot to do with the bankruptcies of the part suppliers. Many companies that made parts 5 years ago when American cars were at 90% went bankrupt too (and out of business, not bailed out), leaving them scrambling to find new suppliers. Hopefully this means some of these part contents can come back up a bit once all the financial problems are sorted through.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilburbeest
Its true that most wheels are made in china now, which I honestly find surprising! American Racing.....made in china....how ****ed is that? The sad part is the price point you have to get to in order to get something American made. Not because of the labor costs or anything like that so much as that it seems like about the only time most wheels are not made in china anymore is if they're high dollar forged rims like CCW, Budnik, etc. I ordered some Ruff Racing 281s which I found were unfortunately made in china also.
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This leads into another important point. A lot of stuff produced by outsourcing hasn't gotten any cheaper (cars have continued to go up through it all), anything still made in the US has simply gotten much more expensive much faster (without the outsourcing, the "true" inflation rate would shock us all). Outsourcing has become a means for producers to keep their products affordable with inflation outpacing wage gains. So in my book, the Fed deserves a good piece of the blame along with the unsustainable union deals.