We're the big 3. We don't need to compete...

[peternap]

I was wondering when this topic pic would end up at CP.

It nearly implies everything made in this country is crap.

Where were you made ?

Think about that.


sparks

I was made in Va Sparks. It's a family tradition that goes back to the 1600's.

But you might be right.

Aside from the one and two man shops, what is made entirely in America that's known for it's outstanding quality? WE can skip auto makers. And we can skip assembled in America from overseas parts.

Perhaps showing what we are making properly will change my mind ...and there are a few.

I'll start.
These are made right here in the south, good quality and a reasonable price. I own one and had to look some to find one that was made in the USA.


What else?

[sparks]

Salute PeterNap   

A spokeshave,....is that what is perhaps?




sparks

[sparks]

Something made here:

[urlhttp://www.mccauley.textron.com/][/url]


//http://www.mccauley.textron.com/

[sparks]

There are lot of products made in this country......top notch goodies

Why are we being put down?

[r8ingbull]

Aside from the one and two man shops, what is made entirely in America that's known for it's outstanding quality? WE can skip auto makers. And we can skip assembled in America from overseas parts.

[peternap]

Aside from the one and two man shops, what is made entirely in America that's known for it's outstanding quality? WE can skip auto makers. And we can skip assembled in America from overseas parts.

Carhart makes good stuff. I can make a pait of pants last a year...which is a record.
UNFORTUNATELY.....they aren't made entirely in the US. Some of it is made in Mexico and Europe.

Redwing is a good one.
While they have warehouses all over the world, the leather is tanned here and the boots are made in US factories.

[r8ingbull]

I can't speak to cars, as I have never owned an automobile  .  However, I do own a large retail operation.  We stock over 600,000 line items across a wide variety of specialties.  I am convinced that location of origin makes no difference on quality.  We break down a product group into 3 categories.  I am going to use tools as an example as I think most of us can relate to the name brands...

Category 1 is the budget, ultra low priced (or what we call garbage, disposable) group.  In hand tools this would be IIT, GRIP, MIT, Some house brands.  This is the land of $1.19 ratchets, $1.49 hammers, etc...

Category 2 is the mid-range, higher quality, higher value group.  Tools like Craftsman, ACE, etc...These items are built to last longer, but they still have to reach a price point to get onto the retailers shelves and not cause sticker shock

Category 3 is the Hobbiest or Tradesman level group.  These are the tools that real pro's use.  Here we are talking about $100 hammers, $60 ratchets, etc...This stuff is made to last forever, parts are available to fix it, warranties, and a sales force to back it up.

Any company can make good quality, but they have to want to.  It has to fit the long term goals of the business.  I think the biggest reason for the perception of a lack of quality in american made goods is that the business managers don't want to make a quality product.  It is easier to buy a "name" bring in cheap garbage level items, and sell them as mid-range (cat 2) items.   We've seen this recently with Stanley Tools, and Craftsman seems to be going this way too.

The real trick is to ignore the brand name and find the item that presents the best price to quality, or value.  Everyone has hobbies that they like the best stuff for, and everyone buys cheap junk when it fits the price/quality they are looking for.  The problem comes when someone doesn't realize you can't get a $40 quality tape measure for $4.99.  It doesn't matter who made it, or where..

My hobby is paintball, I own a $2500 paintball gun and wouldn't think of shooting a $300 paintball gun.  At the same time I would buy a $300 shotgun, even though that probably won't get much of a shotgun...

[r8ingbull]

Carhart makes good stuff. I can make a pait of pants last a year...which is a record.
UNFORTUNATELY.....they aren't made entirely in the US. Some of it is made in Mexico and Europe.

Redwing is a good one.
While they have warehouses all over the world, the leather is tanned here and the boots are made in US factories.

Redwing has a large import business now too.  However both of those items I pictured are exclusively US made by union workers.  Actually, both of those companies have "core" products made in company owned factories here in the USA.  A lot of the new products come from overseas.  IF a company wants to be a full line, full service vendor, some items will have to be imported.  We don't have the secondary resources in the US to make everything here.

[peternap]

There are lot of products made in this country......top notch goodies

Why are we being put down?

Sparks, your missing my point. The American people and workers aren't being put down, the American Corporate world is.
Rather than manufacturing ourselves, we are outsourcing everything and if it's made here, it's out of outsourced parts. You used Mccauley as an example and I can't really tell. They are so tied up with Textron products, it's hard to tell exactly what their manufacturing chain is.....

We've moved to quality of what the products are. My point is that the quality (With a few exceptions) is not due to that tried and true American workmanship, it's because of some manufacturing plant elsewhere.

All this is done in the name of profit. The profit goes into the pockets of Top executives and preferred shareholders (Many of whom are NOT American) but the company suffers because it does not go back into the company.

[John_C]

Peternap is absolutely correct.   In many cases the Toyota's, Honda's, Mini Cooper's  etc that we think of as being well made are being produced in factories in America by American workers.

Those companies have been able to navigate the American business landscape and the shrinking three have not.  The corporate hierarchy has made mistake after mistake. They have also been saddled with having to deal with the entrenched union structure and the Unions have played hardball ending with the companies being in a very tight corner.

Is some cases they had to produce the cars they did.  They couldn't manufacture a domestic Civic or Corolla that could compete price wise.  The SUV and truck market were profitable when people were buying, and they tried to outsource the econocars.  The foreign brands have been more successful at establishing separate identities for their nameplates.  Honda & Acura are perceived as different vehicles, ditto VW  & Audi......, but a Crown Victoria is really no different than a Marquis.  GM and Chrysler have been the masters of this for generations.  Anybody remember DeSoto? They went the way of the Dodo bird ~40 years ago. The marketplace didn't need a rebadged Dodge back then and they didn't learn a thing.   Chevy-Pontiac-Oldsmobile-Buick and in some cases Cadillac were all birds of a feather.

[MountainDon]

Ford USA spent the past 2 to 3 decades shifting manufacturing out of the USA. During the same time Honda and Toyota built plants to build cars and car components in the USA. Look where they have ended up.




...and I remember DeSoto. Studebaker. Packard. Checker. Hudson. AMC. Nash. And those are just the defunct American brand that come to mind as having been lost during my lifetime. That's not including later demises like Eagle, Olds and Plymouth. Nor does it include the hundreds of marques that disappeared in the 20's, 30's and forties.

[John_C]

I had a '53 DeSoto.  It was old & rusty when it was given to me but it ran.  It think it was a tank in a previous life