Hey Ya'll I'm New! Here

[azsun]

I almost Goofed Big Time and Bought a Ford Focus Hybrid until they showed me the paperwork and I saw that I, although I may have been buying an American Brand it was assemembled in Mexico! Now we complain about how we're closing plants here in the U.S. and yet somehow we're supposed to be buying American cars made by Mexicans! I'll just wait and hope that maybe the Volt! will be American made since we bailed GM out with our Tax Dollars.

[Khadgars]

The good news about the Volt is it will indeed be made here in the US, even the batteries, out sourced to LG Chem, will be made in Mich.

There is hope that later models will us A123 batteries, but we shall have to see.

[Geronimo]

Originally Posted by azsun

I almost Goofed Big Time and Bought a Ford Focus Hybrid until they showed me the paperwork and I saw that I, although I may have been buying an American Brand it was assemembled in Mexico! Now we complain about how we're closing plants here in the U.S. and yet somehow we're supposed to be buying American cars made by Mexicans! I'll just wait and hope that maybe the Volt! will be American made since we bailed GM out with our Tax Dollars.

The Chevy Volt will be manufactured in the Detroit Hamtramck factory, within view of the old headquarters of GM on West Grand Boulevard, one of only two factories still making cars in the city where carmaking was born:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/21/news...tune/index.htm

Yeah, Ford is run now by Alan Mulally, formerly executive vice president of Boeing and the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Boeing likes to outsource parts and systems all over the world, which has led to the huge, expensive delays in their new Dreamliner Boeing 787 airplane. It doesn't matter if you can cut 1% of costs by making the carbon-fiber wings in Nagoya, Japan, if they fall off when you attach them to other outsourced subsystems:
For economic reasons, the wings are manufactured by Japanese companies in Nagoya such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which also makes the central wing box. The horizontal stabilizers are manufactured by Alenia Aeronautica in Italy; and the fuselage sections by Global Aeronautica and Boeing Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina (USA), Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan and Spirit AeroSystems, in Wichita, Kansas (USA).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787

The reverberating effects of Boeing’s outsourcing missteps have taken a huge toll. The Dreamliner — the first passenger plane to be made mainly with light plastic composites — is now more than two years late and still awaits its first flight tests.

...concedes that Boeing lost control of the process by farming out more design and production work than ever and not keeping close tabs on suppliers. He says the company is retaking control.

Boeing, which is based in Chicago, said recently that it was fixing the latest Dreamliner snag: a series of unexpected stresses where the wings join the fuselage. It says it expects to begin test flights this year and to start delivering the plane in the last quarter of 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/bu.../06boeing.html

I hope Ford avoids Boeing's mistakes: there will be no more bailouts, and Ford is in a very precarious position.

[DaV8or]

Originally Posted by azsun

I almost Goofed Big Time and Bought a Ford Focus Hybrid until they showed me the paperwork and I saw that I, although I may have been buying an American Brand it was assemembled in Mexico! Now we complain about how we're closing plants here in the U.S. and yet somehow we're supposed to be buying American cars made by Mexicans! I'll just wait and hope that maybe the Volt! will be American made since we bailed GM out with our Tax Dollars.

Welcome to the forums! I didn't know there was a Ford Focus hybrid. Did you mean Fusion? Sadly, yes, much of our bailout money has gone overseas. We are no longer a country that makes anything. We design stuff, sell stuff and shuffle paper. Went from a country of doers to a country of schemers.

[DaV8or]

Originally Posted by Geronimo

I hope Ford avoids Boeing's mistakes: there will be no more bailouts, and Ford is in a very precarious position.

Sadly, outsourcing is the latest trend for all "manufacturers". Modern American car "makers" make very little of their cars. Subcontracted suppliers do all the actual manufacturing and they could be located anywhere in the world. Way back in the day, Henry Ford initially bought much of his components from outside suppliers but he eventually bought them all up or replaced them with in house operations. At the apex of Model T production, Ford made every single piece and part of that car from raw materials. He did this to cut out the middle man and his profit and to maintain control of the quality and delivery schedule for all components. He was a wise man and his ideas put him in the history books. His wisdom is lost today in America. How many of today's "CEOs" will end up being a household name associated with greatness?

[Ambulator]

Mexico helping to build the car is probably better for us than China or Korea. More jobs for Mexicans should mean fewer border problems.

[Geronimo]

Originally Posted by DaV8or

At the apex of Model T production, Ford made every single piece and part of that car from raw materials. He did this to cut out the middle man and his profit and to maintain control of the quality and delivery schedule for all components.

Yeah, remember the Ford Explorer rollover controversy ?
Ford tried to pin all the blame on the tires supplier, which just happened to be Japanese (Bridgestone had bought Firestone by this time). Bridgestone countered that they had complained about the design of the Ford Explorer from the beginning, and Ford had asked for stronger (more nylon plys) tires for the Explorer in the Venezuela market, and had changed the suspension on that model. In the US, dealers just told customers to ride with underinflated tires for a smoother ride (which leads to overheating and blowouts from the flexing).

In 2001 Bridgestone/Firestone severed its ties to Ford citing a lack of trust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firesto...Rubber_Company

He was a wise man and his ideas put him in the history books. His wisdom is lost today in America. How many of today's "CEOs" will end up being a household name associated with greatness?

I'm sure Mr. Google will be remembered a century from now.

[dagwood55]

How much of Boeing's problematic outsourcing is due to Mullally and how much is due to James McNerney?

[azsun]

Originally Posted by DaV8or

Welcome to the forums! I didn't know there was a Ford Focus hybrid. Did you mean Fusion? Sadly, yes, much of our bailout money has gone overseas. We are no longer a country that makes anything. We design stuff, sell stuff and shuffle paper. Went from a country of doers to a country of schemers.

OOPS I goofed indeed I meant the Fusion. Anyway, It did stir quite a bit of good feedback. I'll look forward to buying a Volt before giving one 1red cent to Ford Thank You!