What Does "Buy American" Mean?

Writen by Peter J.H. Johnson

A few decades ago it was easy to spot an import car. They were small, mostly 4-
cylinder econo-boxes that were made in Japan or Germany. However, over the last 2
decades, more and more foreign manufacturers have built plants here in North
America. Honda built the first Japanese manufacturing facility in Ohio in 1979.
Today, Honda builds the Accord, Civic, Odyssey, and Acura MDX in plants in Canada
and The United States. Toyota builds the Camry, Avalon, Corolla, Solara, Tacoma,
Tundra, Matrix, Sienna, and Lexus RX350 in plants across Canada and the United
States as well. Nissan builds virtually all of their vehicles in The United States
including the Maxima, Altima, Titan, Armada, Frontier, Pathfinder, and Xterra.
Mitsubishi, Subaru, BMW, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz also build cars throughout
The United States. So do you still label a car an import if it’s made in your own
country? Are the Crown Victoria and Chevrolet Impala imports because they’re made
in Canada? What about the new Ford Fusion? Is that an import car? It’s made in
Mexico.

Okay, perhaps an import is a vehicle that is designed somewhere else regardless of
where it is built. Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru and others have Research
& Development centers in the United States (mostly in California). Many also have
design studios there as well. So can a car still be labeled an import if it’s designed
and built and sold in The United States? The reality is that there are no longer
imports and domestics. Ford builds cars in Europe, Asia and North America. As does
General Motors. What about Chrysler? Is it still a domestic? Daimler-Benz (a German
company) owns it. Is Bentley an English car company? Volkswagen AG owns it and
most of the major components come from Audi. BMW owns Rolls Royce and the
quintessential English car, the MINI. I wonder if people in England think of those
cars as imports or domestics?

Unions here in North America want consumers to “buy American”. At the Detroit
auto show in January the UAW handed out bags at the Ford booth that said “Buy
American” in big letters. Needless to say, it caused confusion, as I didn’t know if
they meant buy the Toyota Camry that is built in Kentucky or the Ford Fusion that is
built in Mexico, or the Dodge Charger that is built in Canada and uses many
components from the previous generation Mercedes E-Class.

Let’s face it. Consumers should pick a car based on what’s best, not on the location
of a company’s mailbox.

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Raw Excitement for the Jeep Hurricane

Writen by Jenny McLane

Designing a functional prototype from an idea in such a short time was challenging. It was a tremendous feeling when everything functioned as designed the first time” said Brett Wallihan, MillenWorks Design Engineer, “You just don’t expect a vehicle to rotate around its own axis like that. It was surreal.”

This statement summed up for the high praises and awe the crowd bestowed on the Jeep Hurricane took center stage at the Detroit auto show DaimlerChrysler Corporation press conference.

Innovative in style, the Jeep Hurricane included a centrally located twin-engine transfer case, in-board brakes, drive shafts, front and rear steering, and complete corner assemblies. It has a centrally located transfer case coupling power from both engines and distribute all wheel drive torque to each corner of the vehicle. The Jeep Hurricane’s Shift-by-wire mechanisms allow the wheels on one side of the vehicle to run in reverse, which, coupled with split solid axles and 55 degrees front and rear wheel toe-in angles, allows the vehicle to rotate around its own axis.

Jeep Hurricane 2005 has Four Wheel and Crab Steering capability, with a combination of traditional and “steer by wire” technologies. The total of twenty inches of suspension travel was achieved through the use of a purpose-built front and rear double A-arm independent wishbone suspension with coil over dampers

Superior engineering describes the effort put into every inch of the Jeep Grand Cherokee by its grand designers — the Millenworks. The new concept vehicle challenged the creative boundaries of MillenWorks’ engineering team and the result is amazing.

We have everything you need for your Jeep Hurricane at Parts train. Just go to http://www.partstrain.com/ShopByVehicle/Jeep Quality products can now be purchased easily at our online shop.

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New Mazda MX-5 at British International Motor Show

Writen by Kimberly Meyer

During the upcoming 2006 British International Motor Show this 18th of July up until the 30th of the same month, the Mazda Motor Corporation would be out to show off to the world its new Mazda MX-5. This would be the very first time for the company to show the world this vehicle. In fact, this vehicle comes with a power retractable hard top which is one feature that Mazda is very proud of. Aside from this vehicle, Mazda would also be revealing to the public the Mazda BT-50 which is a one-ton pickup truck.

The Mazda MX-5 that would be shown off during this auto show would be having the power retractable hard top roof which is quite unique. This would be quite an addition to this third generation of Mazda MX-5s. Mazda claims that this new vehicle would be offering a unified sense of driving exhilaration. In fact, it is a lightweight sports car that offers diversity and distinctiveness in all features that it offers.

Mazda says that this vehicle’s essence is known as the “Jinba Ittai” which actually means “rider and horse as one”. It simply means that with this new Mazda MX-5, there would be an emotional connection between the driver and his horse which is the vehicle itself. Do not be confused though if you hear the names Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe, Mazda Roaster Power Retractable Hard Top, and Mazda MX-5 (Miata) Power Retractable Hard Top. These names all refer to the Mazda MX-5 and these are used in Europe, Japan, and North America, in that order.

As per the new one-ton Mazda BT-50 truck, this heavy truck comes with a powerful 2.5 liter Direct Injection Turbo Diesel engine which is quite new to the company. In fact, it is during this year’s British International Motor Show that such a diesel engine would be featured and shown off the European public. However, this engine that the Mazda BT-50 truck has already been part of the Bangkok Motor Show just last March where it made its world debut.

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