For decades there was a sentiment among US vehicle buyers of avoiding home grown brands, largely because of a perceived lack of quality and reliability compared with those from overseas, especially Japanese ones.

However, perhaps as a result of this latest recession and also a growing “buy American” sentiment, that trend appears to be reversing, with record numbers of car shoppers now choosing to avoid imported nameplates because of their origin.

An annual “Avoider” survey by JD Power & Associates illustrated that the share of buyers avoiding imports increased from 9 percent in 2011 to 14 percent this year, while the percentage of buyers avoiding Domestic vehicle brands dropped to its lowest level on record; six percent.

“For many years, domestics were largely abandoned but now it’s gone back and they’re competing head on with the imports,” said Jon Osborn, research director for JD Power in reference to the findings. “They [US automakers] are meeting the demands the American consumer is producing.”

Osborn also cites clever marketing slogans, such as Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” as having an impact on the results, though he did say that today as has been the norm for years, many new vehicle shoppers base their opinions regarding quality on “pre-conceived notions rather than concrete information and data,” which is probably why Jaguar was labeled the most avoided brand on the list, even though, according to JD Power’s own Dependability studies, the British luxury marque has ranked consistently among the top brands in recent years.

[Source: Automotive News]

These days, it’s difficult to say really. Ford Transit Connect? Built in Turkey and shipped to the US. Lincoln MKZ? Built in Mexico and shipped to the US. Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Camaro? Built in Canada.

On the flipside, a lot of ‘foreign’ cars have more US content than you might imagine. Mazda 6? Built in Michigan. Toyota Camry? built in Kentucky, or how about the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Toyota Tacoma or Toyota Tundra? In the case of these three, all of them are vehicles not only built here, but specifically designed and engineered for our market.

Start adding in specific components, i.e. German sourced engines from some GM cars and transmissions from Japan or Germany and it starts to get very, very confusing.

Well the American International Automobile Dealers’ Association hopes to clarify what exactly constitutes an American car by highlighting which ‘foreign’ automakers have a significant manufacturing and assembly process in the United States. This comes at a time where the issue of ‘buy American’ and protecting American jobs has become a politically hot topic.

The AIADA has created a website that enables the user to click through foreign automakers that have US manufacturing facilities, highlighting how many employees they have on the payroll and how long they’ve been established on American soil.

According to the AIADA’s own research, there are 21 ‘foreign’ automakers that build cars and trucks in the US that employ a total of 86, 507 workers. Click on the link below for more information – some of the findings might surprise you.

[Source: What is An American Car]

The All-American Impala: Made in Canada

During President Obama’s press conference last week when he announced that Chrylser would file for Chapter 11, he asked Americans that if they were looking to buy a car, to look at American cars. The “buy American” philosophy drew harsh criticism from the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), which pointed out that buying American doesn’t necessarily mean buying a car from an American brand.

“AIADA objects to President Obama’s ‘buy American’ solution for the auto sector,” AIADA President Cody Lusk said in a statement. “In today’s globalized economy ‘buying American’ can mean anything from buying a Chevy Avalanche built by Mexican workers in Silao, Mexico to buying a Toyota Camry built by Americans in Georgetown, Kentucky.”

On that note, there is one way to tell exactly which country a car is manufactured in – the VIN number. That’s right, that odd 17-digit sequence of numbers and letters found on the dash under the windshield (and in numerous other places on a vehicle) holds the key to a vehicle’s country of origin.

Many VIN numbers, actually start with a letter. Those that start with a “J” are built in Japan and those with a “K” are from Korea. Most of the rest, however, aren’t so intuitive. VINs that start with a “W” are from Germany, while an “S” signifies England. Swedish cars get a “Y.”

The United States, Canada and Mexico all use a number system, with American-made cars using a VIN that starts with the number 1, while Canadian-made cars use a 2 and Mexican made cars use a 3.

The number of American vehicles made outside the U.S. is actually quite significant, while many “foreign” cars are built in American. In fact, one of America’s best-selling vehicles (and one that is also typically American) is actually built in Canada – the Chevy Impala.

Other made-in-Canada cars include the Buick Lacrosse, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKX, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

Made-in Mexico cars include the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Chevrolet HHR. And as for the the Chevy Aveo sub-compact, it comes from Korea.

On the flip-side, there are plenty of Japanese (and even some German) vehicles built in the U.S. of A. Some of the most significant include the high volume Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, while the Honda Element and Toyota Avalon are also U.S. products. Nissan builds several models in the United States while BMW manufactures the Z4 as well as the X5 and X6 in South Carolina.

… The more you know…

[Source: La Times]