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Comment by chadmalik | Hacker News Reader

Isn't it a bit deceptive to talk about Toyota etc. being made by American workers? The parts are designed and largely made overseas. The American workers are putting prefab parts together. Fact is, the US industrial base is largely gutted and Asia is where it moved.

p.s. there is some good design done in the US but I'm talking high level here.

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Don't US companies source a lot of parts from overseas? Ford even has plants in Mexico. US and Japanese companies often share designs. The boundary between foreign and domestic is a lot blurrier than it used to be. This point here is mostly about the management of these various companies, not so much their location or operations.

Also, the article mentions specifically that Toyota and Honda use a lot of American-made parts, which are of higher quality than whatever Ford/GM/Chrysler are using (doesn't say where they are getting parts from) and that is a major contributor to the difference.

I think that moving the parts factories here is a political decision. The core operations are still essentially Japanese and most of the hardcore expertise for Toyota, say, is in Toyota City, Japan. Its not because we Americans are less capable or something - its just a typical industry cluster.

Anyway if I had my say, I wish the car industry was less Madison Avenue, and more Silicon Valley. Why aren't car prices decreasing? Why can't I easily swap out parts myself? There needs to be a rethink and it can't occur as long as .gov is propping up the existing edifice.

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