No other car company, Asian or German, has so blatantly promoted itself as an American company. Yes, of course, Honda has been assembling motorcycles and cars in Ohio for nearly 30 years, but it hasn't gone as far as Toyota has in adopting an American persona. The same is true for BMW and Mercedes-Benz. They build cars here, and they participate in community affairs, but the lines never seem to blur between the origins of the company and their U.S. outposts.
Beyond that, the ugly red-headed stepchild treatment of Chevrolet, primarily in favor of Saturn, is also worth a look.
That said, the article is wrong in two places.
Yes, Japan may have manipulated the yen. But, more than half the U.S.-sold Toyotas are made here, so, while that may have helped 10-20 years ago, it’s pretty much irrelevant today.
And, protestations aside, writer Peter M. De Lorenzo ends up being being more a nationalist than his protestations claim.
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