2015 Honda Fit

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by Hamster

Kinda disappointing, however, to hear that it's being built in Mexico. I'm presuming production is being moved there due to the poor exchange rate of the Japanese Yen?

Not this FUD again, please... The topic has been discussed (and debunked) ad-nauseam here and elsewhere. Car manufacturing standards are the same no matter where you happen to build them. Manufacturing plants are almost, if not completely, automated these days. It makes no sense to blame people of a certain country over the quality of a car (at least not anymore). Was this the case 20 or even 10 years ago? No. But things have certainly improved since then, and will continue to do so.

Case in point? The Fiat 500. I don't see many people complaining about the quality of that car, especially considering that the original Fiats were terrible in that respect.

As to the exchange rate of the yen being a factor, I don't dismiss it as quickly, although I think it has more to do with the fact that manufacturing in Japan has its drawbacks, to say the least.

[Hamster]

Originally Posted by tk-421

Not this FUD again, please... The topic has been discussed (and debunked) ad-nauseam here and elsewhere. Car manufacturing standards are the same no matter where you happen to build them. Manufacturing plants are almost, if not completely, automated these days. It makes no sense to blame people of a certain country over the quality of a car (at least not anymore). Was this the case 20 or even 10 years ago? No. But things have certainly improved since then, and will continue to do so.

The issues regarding quality aside (which I generally agree with you on. My sister's Nissan Sentra was built in Mexico, and it's given her no problems whatsoever), one thing I've wondered is, why are car manufacturers expanding in Mexico? Yes, the labor's cheap, but there's so much corruption south of the border. And I won't even go into the problems with the drug cartels. The article like the one you linked to above doesn't even mention that. Seems like the last place in the world a manufacturer would want to invest hundreds of millions of dollars.

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by Hamster

The issues regarding quality aside (which I generally agree with you on. My sister's Nissan Sentra was built in Mexico, and it's given her no problems whatsoever), one thing I've wondered is, why are car manufacturers expanding in Mexico? Yes, the labor's cheap, but there's so much corruption south of the border. And I won't even go into the problems with the drug cartels. The article like the one you linked to above doesn't even mention that. Seems like the last place in the world a manufacturer would want to invest hundreds of millions of dollars.

I guess the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

I wouldn't want to hijack this thread any longer... suffice to say that there's a lot of layers to decisions such as this. But one thing's for sure: If you want your cars to be less expensive, this is the only way to do it.