| A few decades ago it was easy to spot an import | | | | (mostly in California). Many also have design studios |
| car. They were small, mostly 4- cylinder econo-boxes | | | | there as well. So can a car still be labeled an import if |
| that were made in Japan or Germany. However, over | | | | it's designed and built and sold in The United States? |
| the last 2 decades, more and more foreign | | | | The reality is that there are no longer imports and |
| manufacturers have built plants here in North America. | | | | domestics. Ford builds cars in Europe, Asia and North |
| Honda built the first Japanese manufacturing facility in | | | | America. As does General Motors. What about |
| Ohio in 1979. Today, Honda builds the Accord, Civic, | | | | Chrysler? Is it still a domestic? Daimler-Benz (a |
| Odyssey, and Acura MDX in plants in Canada and | | | | German company) owns it. Is Bentley an English car |
| The United States. Toyota builds the Camry, Avalon, | | | | company? Volkswagen AG owns it and most of the |
| Corolla, Solara, Tacoma, Tundra, Matrix, Sienna, and | | | | major components come from Audi. BMW owns Rolls |
| Lexus RX350 in plants across Canada and the United | | | | Royce and the quintessential English car, the MINI. I |
| States as well. Nissan builds virtually all of their vehicles | | | | wonder if people in England think of those cars as |
| in The United States including the Maxima, Altima, Titan, | | | | imports or domestics? |
| Armada, Frontier, Pathfinder, and Xterra. Mitsubishi, | | | | Unions here in North America want consumers to "buy |
| Subaru, BMW, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz also build | | | | American". At the Detroit auto show in January the |
| cars throughout The United States. So do you still label | | | | UAW handed out bags at the Ford booth that said |
| a car an import if it's made in your own country? Are | | | | "Buy American" in big letters. Needless to say, it |
| the Crown Victoria and Chevrolet Impala imports | | | | caused confusion, as I didn't know if they meant buy |
| because they're made in Canada? What about the | | | | the Toyota Camry that is built in Kentucky or the Ford |
| new Ford Fusion? Is that an import car? It's made in | | | | Fusion that is built in Mexico, or the Dodge Charger that |
| Mexico. | | | | is built in Canada and uses many components from |
| Okay, perhaps an import is a vehicle that is designed | | | | the previous generation Mercedes E-Class. |
| somewhere else regardless of where it is built. Honda, | | | | Let's face it. Consumers should pick a car based on |
| Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru and others have | | | | what's best, not on the location of a company's |
| Research & Development centers in the United States | | | | mailbox. |