The Germans are bad, very bad...

dales · Post by **dales** » Fri May 26, 2017 12:29 am

Donald Trump Calls Germans 'Very Bad,' Vows To 'Stop' German Car Sales In U.S.

At a NATO summit in Brussels with top EU leaders, president Trump scolded Germany, and vowed to put an end to the country’s hefty car exports to the U.S., multiple German and now English-language news outlets report.

German newspaper Der Spiegel cites “a circle of participants” at the summit, who claim Trump had harsh words to say about what he claims is Germany’s trade imbalance with the U.S.

The president allegedly told the leaders:

The Germans are bad, very bad... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. We will stop this.
Though this quote has been translated from German, multiple German reporters from the outlet Der Spiegel have reported the quote translated into English, including Veit Medick:

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung also reported in German a similar “bad, very bad” quote, and ZDF also said that Trump was displeased with Germany’s heavy automotive trade surplus to the U.S. The same has been quoted by Slate and Quartz, among others in the U.S. too.

These comments are in keeping with some of the other rhetoric Trump has been spewing about foreign carmakers. On the campaign trail he regularly targeted companies like Toyota, threatening them into making cars in the U.S.—which many of them already do. In this case BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen all have substantial manufacturing bases in the U.S.; BMW alone makes all of its SUVs in South Carolina.
[gawd, what an ass!]

Earlier this year, he criticized German automakers BMW, Daimler and VW for not building enough American-market automobiles stateside, with Reuters quoting the president as saying:

If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax.
According to MIT’s Observatory of Economic Complexity, a visualization tool for international trade data, Germany has a $252 billion positive trade balance, with the majority of goods being cars, which make up 12 percent of all exports. The top destination for German export goods, the OEC shows, is the U.S., representing 9.9 percent of all export value, or $122 billion.

It’s worth noting that Donald Trump is clearly a fan of German cars, as the only video we’ve seen of him actually driving shows him behind the wheel of a Rolls Royce, which is built by German company BMW.

MGMcAnick · Post by **MGMcAnick** » Fri May 26, 2017 11:58 pm

Among other things, the president is not a noted car guy. (He's also a terrible excuse for a human being, but that doesn't belong in Hardware.) When he accused Chevrolet of building their Cruze (possibly mis-clued by the spelling) in Mexico, he failed to realize that the Cruze sedan is made in the USA.

Now he has accused Germany of dumping it's auto production on the US. What he probably doesn't realize is that MANY other cars, including those we think of as German, are Hecho en Mexico.

Audi Q5 (A VW subsidiary)
BMW 5 Series Security (bullet proof glass and all)
Cadillac Escalade EXT
Cadillac SRX
Chevrolet Avalanche
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet Cruze 2-door
Chevrolet HHR
Chevrolet Silverado and Silverado Hybrid
Dodge Journey
Fiat 500 (Bet you thought it was Italian)
Ford Fiesta
Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid
GMC Sierra, Sierra Hybrid and Sierra Crew Cab
Honda CR-V
Lincoln MKZ and MKZ Hybrid
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Versa
Ram 2500/3500/4500/5500 (Have you noticed they are Rams now, not Dodges?)
Toyota Tacoma
VW Jetta/Jetta SportWagen
VW Golf
VW Tiguan

There are also several models of VW that we don't see here. I've seen the Fiat/Chrysler plant in Toluca where the Dodge Journey and Fiat 500 are now made. The Neon and PT Cruiser and later the Dodge Charger used to be made there. I've also seen the VW plant in Puebla where the Beetle was made until 2011, the last time I was in Puebla. It is now made in Viet Nam. Never wanted to go there.

Jarlaxle · Post by **Jarlaxle** » Sat May 27, 2017 1:46 pm

Aveo is Korean. Charger was never made in Mexico...all Chargers, 300s, Magnums, and Challengers come from Brampton, Ontario.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Sat May 27, 2017 3:51 pm

Anyone who talks about buying only cars built in the U.S. or putting a tariff on imported cars has no clue how integrated the car manufacturing supply chain is. Cars that are assembled in one country might have the majority of their parts manufactured in another country and vice-versa; anything that impedes or increases the cost of those cross-border flows is going to tank the domestic auto industry in one way or another. Similar arguments when the bailouts were happening, why do you think Toyota and Nissan supported the bailouts of GM and Ford, because if they had gone under, the supply chain that underpins the entire auto industry would have collapsed.

Crackpot · Post by **Crackpot** » Sat May 27, 2017 6:47 pm

You mean Chrysler Ford didn't take a bailout.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Sat May 27, 2017 8:31 pm

Yes, thank you.

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Wed May 31, 2017 2:30 pm

many products are only "assembled" in the USA. Parts come from all over the world.
Harley Davidson motorcycles included.

I believe the pt cruisers I had (both of them) were made (assembled?) in Mexico.

Jarlaxle · Post by **Jarlaxle** » Wed May 31, 2017 7:00 pm

All PT Cruisers were built in Mexico.

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:39 pm

Jarlaxle wrote:All PT Cruisers were built in Mexico.

I thought I read that Chrysler was going to make some in Austria for the europian market?
I could be mistaken.

MGMcAnick · Post by **MGMcAnick** » Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:17 am

Jarlaxle wrote:Aveo is Korean. Charger was never made in Mexico...all Chargers, 300s, Magnums, and Challengers come from Brampton, Ontario.

You're right. My own 2007 Charger shows a Canadian VIN. I am curious why all those Chargers were parked outside the Toluca plant when I was there. FCA is building the
Fiat 500 there now. Talk about the worst to two worlds. An "Italian" car, made in Mexico.

You may find this interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV7zt4YTe_Q It may pop up with an ad. Mine was for a Hyundai, but the FMAT follows. (Fix Mine Again Tony?)

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 6:10 pm

The Mexican "F I A T" : Fix It Again... Thiago

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:12 pm

Built in Mexico may not be all bad. Way back in 2002, the last time I bought a new car, I was shopping for a new Ford Escort, my third one of that model. Those two were built in Atlanta GA and in Canada. I did a little searching on line and found that the assembly plant in Mexico, among the Ford plants in North America producing Escorts at that time, had the lowest cost per vehicle for warranty repairs.

I found an Escort on a dealer lot with the options I wanted, made in Mexico. For some reason it had been sitting on his lot for the longest time of all his Escort inventory--among other things the newer window stickers had some stuff as additional cost options that were listed as standard on that one from Mexico. I bought it and it was relatively trouble free. Kept it for more than 150k miles and still was not using oil between changes when I trashed it by my stupid inattentive driving.

snailgate

dales · Post by **dales** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:19 pm

Owned a new a Ford Escort back in the late 1980's.

The sticker on the windshield proudly proclaimed "Made by UAW Local such-n-such".

That car turned out to be an absolute PIECE OF SIHT, the worst car new or used I have ever owned.

20k miles: radiator take a dump.

40k miles: transmission fails which resulted in a VERY EXPENSIVE repair.

60k miles: blows head gasket.

Traded that UAW-assembled pile of garbage in for a vehicle made in Japan.

That car now belongs to me ex and has close to 300k on the clock.

Haven't purchased anything ASSembled by the UAW and never will.

FCK EM!

Crackpot · Post by **Crackpot** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:37 pm

All of those escorts blew head gaskets at 60k they were pretty bulletproof past that tho.

dales · Post by **dales** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:52 pm

There's NO excuse for a head gasket blowing at 60k miles if the car has been maintained.

Shoddy materials and indifferent assembly were to blame.

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 12:27 am

I never blew a head gasket in any car I have owned, Including the three Ford escorts, which all had more than 150 thou on the clock when I got rid of them. I did have a French Renault (badged AMC Alliance) that overheated regularly, with clattering valves and actual steam from the head gasket. Just sit there and let it cool down and it would go back to running as well as ever without more leaking head gasket, 'til the next time it over heated. The real problem was the junky auto tranny.

snailgate

dales · Post by **dales** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:10 am

I never blew a head gasket in any car I have owned....

I didn't blow a head gasket, my POS car did.

Crackpot · Post by **Crackpot** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 10:54 am

I forgot the cause of the problem if it was the part or the process (installation). I was too young at the time to really care I just remember my dad buying one for cheap (with a blown head gasket) for the very reason that he knew it would be good beyond that.

Still the escort name never lived down that initial issue and had the reputation for being a problematic car even though it wound up being the most reliable.

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:58 pm

Vega's had head problems too.

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:35 pm

oldr_n_wsr wrote:Vega's had head problems too.

I had heard that when I was shopping around for my first car(s), but was told at the time it was because Chevy used an aluminum head assembly which was much more prone to warping if it got overheated than a cast-iron block and head.

-"BB"-

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