Car Tech forum: Poll: What nationality's carmakers build the better car?

Here in the U.K. we have Toyata factories,Nissan factories,BMW (mini) factories etc.
I personally own an Honda Jazz ( japanese ) and a Smart 4-2 ( German ).
Ive had no problems with either car, but i think the main consideration to be made is that neither of my cars are mass produced.I have owned vauxhalls ( opel ) and fords which are both nice cars,but there seems to be lack of quality control.
We just need to look at the best cars in the world, and they are nearly all hand made.
So i dont think its a case of where a car is made, but how it is made.

"American" cars are often built elsewhere, but Asian cars are built here (quite often), because of the domestic American political realities. Ref.: Consumer Reports; Wall Street Journal "today", 6/20/07 concerning Toyota.

I live near a steep grade of the freeway. Most of the cars that
didn't make it up the hill were GM. I see it all the time.

I don't know about you, but the main thing I want in a car is
reliability. Toyota gives you reliability, performance and
comfort. My 1997 6 cyl. Camry (199,000m) still scoots like
a police cruiser and has only been in the shop for brakes.
My 1990 Corolla made it to 250,000 before I stressed it too
much one night.

I'd buy an American vehicle if they could match the quality.
I'm a patriotic veteran, after all. I just hate being stranded
in the middle of nowhere or in the middle of gangland, bottom line.

Toyota - reliability, mechanically, gas use, servicing - I used to buy fords but they can't even come close to toyotas.

My addition to the discussion is about the meaning of a 'good' car. I think car's are 'emotion' for 75% and the rest are rational thoughts about fuel economy, daily costs and so on...
My advice is to buy a car that you personally like in all it's aspects, rather than buying the best 'deal' or the most reliable car according to benchmark tests. If you love a car, than you will maintain it the best you can and enjoy yourself each time you drive it!

I prefer BMW because they make car's that are designed for 'freude am fahren' and that's what it's all about in my opinion. Kind regards.

Last time I checked, all the foriegn companies that make cars in the US provide decent jobs with benefits and a retirement system for hundreds of thousands of workers and their famillies and millions of others in their supply chain. The last two ads I saw on TV talking about where cars are built were Suburu and Hyundai, and both plants were in the US, and one even had a zero landfill rating. Then if I look to news about US car companies, I hear about plants getting shut down and jobs being cut while these "foreign" companies are opening up shop in the US. A vast majority of the parts on my civic came from the US, and it was assebled here. Most of the Japanese companies have US corporate offices, and brands like Lexus are "American".

Maybe if the domestics acually listened to the consumer and cared about making a quality product, then they wouldn't be in that place. When it comes down to it, we know FORD cares more about money than making good cars (Firestone tires blowing out, exploding gas tanks, cars catching on fire, flames shooting out of the tailpipes on the brand new diesel trucks). If they realized that if they care about quality, then the money will come rolling in.

Japanese rank highest because:
1. They have the best hand-eye coordination skills of any ethnic group on the planet. In other words, they are better using their hands to assemble a product.

2. They have a sense of pride in what they do. Each piece they produce represents both the individual and the company. By extension their country as well.

3. They have no ridiculous regulations like Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, unions or the lack thereof etc. They keep their mind on getting the job done.

4. Everyone who works for a company is treated the same--whether janitor or top administration. This creates a "team" atmosphere and a sense of worth which transfers from the individual to the product.

They still leave US made cars in the dust.

At the end of my post I typed something that appears now as ***, i am sure i typed "***" is there something offensive about abbrieviating japanese. I am English but i get called Brit or limey and various other names. The only offensive abbreviation i can think of is for pakistani's and I understand why with them. Honestly the constituants of the british isles have been shortening names and taking the mick out of each other for years and the rest of the world should lighten up, there's nothing derogatory or offensive to be found.
Having read more on the posts here it would be nice to see if india can give us a quality product. whilst bettering the life of the people who build them. We don't want them cheap at the expense of human rights.
It's quite funny reading some of the posts as most seem to be written by consumers, and/or patriots. if i am the only mechanical technician here then only my point of view is valid lol.
So here's the last thing i have to say on it all... Best car at the moment...lexus. best car of all time Rolls Royce. Best 4x4 probably toyota, best 4x4 of all time land rover. For those patriotic die hard americans, stop polluting the earth with gas guzzlers build better quality bodies so they resist the great british weather, then sort out the useless soft suspension. You do have the money and the ambition to be the best but you have so much pride and love for money you forget to do the little things like stop poverty in the states and rebuild new orleans. We brits would love americans more if only a few more of your leaders practiced what they preach. Chrysler and jeep are growing in popularity here so anythings possible if you try.
Have a nice day.

The best quality cars are made in Germany. Best quality for the price in Japan. The worst cars in almost all areas are American. With the possible exception of Russian cars, but who the hell buys Ladas?

Here's my ranking of the major countries (based on quality and nothing else).

9. Russian
(Lada just isn't even a car, they are very cheap boxes of crap though).

8. American
(they fall apart after a few years, can't turn when in speed because of ****** suspension, most of them look either moderate or bad, they all have low quality plastic in them, and it's put together badly. The biggest problem with American cars is really that they thing that bigger means more luxurious, and it just doesn't. Also, most of them are insanly bad for the environment).

7. Korean
(I don't really know that much about Korean cars, so i'll just stick them here because i don't like the interior quality of Kias).

6.French
(The french cars aren't very good in quality, but they are cheap, and the quality is acceptable, some of them even look good, so they get 6th).

5. Italian
(Now this is not about style, where they would be much better, but especially Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lamborghini have a history of bad quality, but much of that have bin bought by German carmakers, which means what? total quality everywhere).

4. Brittish
(All you need to do is look at the interior quality of the Aston Martins and you know what i mean. Sweeet).

3. Swedish (volvo)
(You just can't break some of these old Volvos, they just keep driving, so that has a certain quality to it).

2. Japanese
(Japanese cars are dependable and affordable, a perfect combination, and that's also why Toyota is now the number one car company).

1. German
(German cars are ultimate quality, and at the same time most of them have luxurios interiors. If you buy a german car you just know that it wont break down on you, it'll last forever. The german car is basically a volvo that also looks and feals good).

oh by the way.. for all those who read this.. lamborghini is german now. They were bought out by Volkswagon AG. The same company that owns Volkswagon and Audi. Thats why the new 2007 Audi S8 sports the v10 engine from the lambo gallardo boared out to 5.2l from the 5.0l engine. This happens to be my personally favorite car out there. I want one so bad. Price tag keeps me waiting.

If you want to know who builds the best cars just look in a Consumer Reports magazine the Japanese they have been the best for the last twenty years.

I'm sorry, when did it all get lost on people that just because a few import cars are made in America, that the money stays in America.
Profits from the cars go to the country of where the company has it's corporate offices. You cannot tell me that if even just 25% of the people buying imports, that our economy would not be better. I have owned nothing but American cars, Fords to be exact, and have never, I repeat never, had a problem that happened before it's time, e.g. rebuild the transmission after 125,000 miles.

what cost you say? The cost in American jobs, namely those done by the hundreds of subcontractors that truely make American goods, AMERICAN. If you go to a car store and look at the content portion of the sticker, you might be surprised to learn that on several Ford products the domestic content indicates that a good portion of the car was made or sourced somewhere else. As one example, the current Mustang has just 65% local content. Put another way, Ford chose to make the other 35% from non-American parts and/or labor to construct the vehicle. That's about $7,000.00 of the average $20,000.00 retail cost of the car that went to jobs outside the U.S. That other money is much greater than the profit Ford makes per Mustang. In a worse example, the Fusion, and its siblings, the Mercury Milan and the Lincoln MKZ, are only 30% American content, with the 70% percent of the vehicle's parts and labor sourced in MEXICO! Imagine the number of American jobs that cost. On the other hand, a look at the Toyota Camry shows a %78 percent American content listed on its sticker, In fact, Toyota employs 368 AMERICAN subcontractors to their products here, that translates into thousands of employed people empowering them to afford to send their children to college, pay their mortgages on time, afford a second vehicle,in short, keep our economy strong by supporting local businesses with their take home pay, thanks to Toyota.Imagine how many more millions of paycheck dollars would fuel our economy if Ford sourced all its subcontractor parts and labor here instead of beyond our borders? Of course there will always be those who say: "but what about the profits?" I say why should you care about 2 to 6 percent of the purchase price leaving the country? You should be glad that 94 to 98 per cent stays here fueling our country's financial infrastructure. By the way, according to federal manufacturing guidlines, in order to classified as an American product, the finished goods should be of 75% local content, meaning that brand new Mustang,Fusion, Mercury Milan, or Lincoln MKZ you just bought or maybe own, is a FOREIGN car!

I have no doubt that Japanese carmakers consistently produce a better product, but I question putting Germany second. In my admittedly limited experience, Japanese cars I've had have been flawless, while a 1979 VW had electrical problems that should have been avoided. I also owned a '73 Chevy that soured me on all GM products, not only because of the poor quality and reliability, but the attitude from GM reps that sums up best as "you bought it, you sap!" From what I've heard and read, U.S. automakers have vastly improved the product and I think they've passed Germany, on the average. They still produce some crap, but a lot less of it.
My observations lead me to believe a major problem Detroit has is using technology too soon and having problems with it. You won't get the latest tech glitz in a Japanese car, but what you get works reliably. Unless they've changed, the German cars I've had lag technologically. My '79 VW had points while a '76 Chrysler had electronic ignition. Trucks are another matter. Truck buyers typically aren't looking for glitz but for a workhorse vehicle, and Detroit seems to do a good job of providing that, but so does Japan and others. It's simply a different market with it's own requirements. SUVs may really be trucks, but they are produced for and sold to a "car" market and likely have the same issues as the cars from the same manufacturer. Don't expect an SUV to behave like or last like a truck.
Almost every post I read choosing American cars cites older ones. I remember when Detroit sold solid transportation rather than a living room with wheels. My father's '55 Chevy largely had the same equipment as my '59 VW beetle. The only equipment differences were the Chevy had a clock while the VW had an AM radio.
Finally, it's true that everybody builds vehicles all over the world and parts come from everywhere, so the differences have to be mostly in engineering and management. If the bottom line takes precedence, it's good for stockholders, but bad for buyers.

I drive a Honda. It's my fourth one since 1988. My experience is they are bullet proof. I am old enough to remember when Honda, and Japanese cars in general, were throw-away junk. Today, I cast a vote for Korean cars. The reason is I have tracked these auto products and I have seem them evolve much the same as Japanese products, except they have covered the same ground in less than half the time. Also, they have avoided some of the mistakes of earlier Japanese manufacturers by going to school on them. Koreans are hungrier than Japanese, so they are coming on strong. The new product offerings, and the long warranties coming with them, in just the last two years have been very impressive. I think Korea is the source to watch going forward. On another note, I saw in the WSJ yesterday that Toyota has "hit a wall" in building manufacturing facilities in the US. There has been an inverse relationship between increased volume and product quality, just like every other manufacturer down through history. Turns out Toyota has not found that holy grail yet either.