My own car is a Hyundai, made in Korea. However, it was imported (I presume) by an American firm, delivered by Americans, dealer prepped and set up and sold by Americans, and serviced and maintained by Americans.
I don't know what percentage of the original purchase price ever got to Korea over the 4 years it took me to pay for the thing...
Years ago, we had a local motorcycle dealer who handled all sorts of "exotics". Bultaco, Cimatti, Mondial, Ducati...
Strange little place. The guy who ran it was sort of odd too, he had a thoroughly ugly Morris Minor (I don't know if there were any good-looking Morrises... I never saw one) with a prominent bumper sticker that said "Buy American-made products!"
It's a net sum game isn't it? We're presumably at a crossroads in American history. The transition from a manufacturing based economy to a service based one. At least that's how its been explained to me.
I'm biased in the sense that I grew up in the Motor City(ies) , my direct known family (I don't know the proper term, but my at one time living relatives Great Grand parents on through) all gainfully employed directly or indirectly by way of the automakers. That's 3 or 4 generations depending on how you look at it, living at above average levels, with none to modest education and cultural status.
I'm no history buff, but when else in history were so many with so little able to achieve so much? I suppose their was a time early in North American history where the simple farmer was able work hard and prosper, but what has become of the farmer? That way of living is gone it would seem, and now survives only by subsidization. A striking similarity to the autoworkers of present.
As I said it would seem to be a net sum game. Can our economy sustain the change from a manufacturing based to a service based with the same quality of living accustomed to us in the last 100 years. (Some will argue that the American economy has been and will continue to be serviced based. I'm of the mind to think this is a result of the rise in manufacturing, that the service industry grew in relation to the services afforded by those employed in manufacturing. A chicken or egg, which came first so to speak) It can if the $4000 you saved buying a Hyundai is equal to or greater than the loss to the economy not buying a comparable domestic product.
I searched the internet and was unable to find an exact number. There doesn't appear to be any studies weighing the effects of purchasing a domestic car over a foreign. It seems like too complex an equation to solve for some of the reasons you've pointed out. Aside from the profits themselves, most of the associated costs between a foreign and domestic vehicle are essentially the same.
I'm inclined to believe the profits made in the automotive industry never had that much of a "trickle down effect". It's more of a concentration of wealth. The millions, or billions made reside in the hands of a select few, who never turn that wealth back over to the economy in the same concentration. In fact usually when we talk about these concentrations of wealth we associate it with exotic cars and foreign destinations, certainly the only domestic contribution of the ultra wealthy is the employment of house staff and payment of property taxes.
The profits hoarded by Toyoda and Ford have no real effect on the domestic economies in Japan and the US do they? If either were to go broke tomorrow and their accumulated wealth distributed back to citizens of each country what would it amount to for each individual? Basically nothing is my guess.
So if our economy has thrived with the concentration of wealth here, surely it can be sustained if it moved to Japan or China or Korea? I mean it really isn't that big of a deal. Is it?
I guess I'm at odds, my intuition says "Yes" but my logical mind says "No". I know some of my direct family and a few of my friends still rely on the domestic automakers for a living. 10 years ago "almost all of" them relied on the Big 3. Things have changed, and I have to say it really hasn't been for the better. Has it been better for the rest of the country that never relied on the automotive industry? I hope so, because otherwise there's a case to be made that the economy is directly related to the manufacturing and sales of domestic cars. As goes GM so does the economy.
I don't know, I'm trying to be tactful. I realize many of the people touting the "Buy American" don't know exactly what is or isn't American anymore. It's based purely on an ideology and not in fact. At the same time I'm not sure a case has been made that buying a foreign car isn't having an impact on our way of living. They may be right despite not having any clue what they are talking about.
