Can We Compete?

Everyone’s been talking about the American car industry lately.  I guess I’m not a complete expert on the matter, so take this with a grain of salt, but here are my two bits.  It seems to me that people aren’t asking the important question, which is, is it possible for American car factories to be competitive in the global market?  I was looking at Toyota parts the other day for my own car (yes, I buy foreign too) and I was amazed at how inexpensive they were.  We’re talking genuine Toyota parts here, too, not some kind of shoddy imitators.   But after buying parts for my old Ford back when I had one (years ago) I expected my repairs to set me back a pretty penny. 

 I know Toyota accessories and things are going to be a lot cheaper because I used Internet instead of a specialty shop, but it wasn’t just that.  Why do so many Americans buy foreign cars?  Not because they’re communists; foreign cars are well made and inexpensive.  And we keep hearing about how China is getting its automobile industry off the ground.  Experience should teach us how hard it is to compete.  Maybe we should cut our losses and stick to markets we excel at, rather than propping up a failed cause at enormous cost.

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