Patriotism doesn't really apply anyway - all those years of screwing workers out of pay, pension, job security, health care, while shifting around production to other countries to avoid paying taxes - Americans remember that as well. Waving a flag when your business is in trouble is no solution.
Patriotism doesn't sell cars today
When domestic automakers had their backs to the wall 25 years ago, they could count on a “Buy American” sentiment to keep some customers from defecting to fuel-efficient foreign cars.
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For one thing, it isn't even clear anymore what “Buy American” means when it comes to cars and trucks. Many of those new models from Toyota and others are built in places like Kentucky, Indiana and Alabama, while the Chevrolet Aveo is imported from South Korea. Meanwhile, some Dodge Ram pick-ups are built in Mexico. Dodge, of course, is a domestic brand, but it's owned by Germany-based DaimlerChrysler.
Tags: automotive, /Business
i think you are mostly right - but i have to say if you got to bavaria it sets you thinking. i mean EVERYONE drives a beemer, a merc or an audiTT - every light you stop at, those willbe the cars. germans are very patriotic buyers.
of course it helps that germans make the best cars of this type. by some margin - but what came first? the quality or the patriotism?
its probably too late for Ford to wrap itself in the flag, but I do think geopolitical concerns and consumer purchases do have a relationship. if i can work out what that relationship is i willbe golden... :-)
SAP is another German company. when it couldnt win sales in the US germany was the charm.
Interesting. Could also be partly a financial motive: the German cars probably don't have tariffs. But then a lot of Americans buy German cars too - quality means something.
I guess my point, expressed clumsily, is that patriotism has to go in two directions. Are the Germans employed at German auto companies happy with their pensions, salary, et al?