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I am a blue-blooded American and in my politics and my business ethic, I am all about channeling our country’s interest in my decision making in how I live my life, conduct business and spend my money. I am against wholesale outsourcing of American jobs just to cut cost. I always prefer and promote hiring US employees over overseas body shops.  I always look to see if I can buy US made products before making a final decision, but I have a major predisposed deterrent to buying or recommending any US made car.

I know a lot about cars as they are an obsession of mine.  Most of my family and friends seek advise or opinions from me when they are looking to make a car purchase. But, I seldom (actually, never) recommend an American brand car to them. Now, if you are looking for a full sized truck, sure. GM and Ford make the best in the world, but compact, mid or full-sized cars–I can’t think of a compelling car to recommend.

Lets take Dodge/Chrysler as an example.  I recently rented a Dodge Caliber from Enterprise.  This car had 3000 miles on it and was basically new.  The quality of the interior components were cheap, the seats were mushy and the car squeaked and cracked as I pulled out of the drive. The engine was weak and thirsty (I averaged 19 mpg) and the suspension floated like a bloated marshmallow.  I have been in many makes and models by Dodge/Chrysler and what I describe above is a trend in all the cars they make.

the Chevrolet Malibu is another classic experiment in in poor quality and design by committee.  That car feels cheap and misses the mark of what could be a great reintroduction of a great brand.

The Ford Focus in Europe is pretty cool, but in the US, its a crap car that looks as bad as it drives.

No wonder these three companies are having problems.  They have gotten off course with what the Germans understood since the beginning and what the Japanese get intuitively. Quality is both emotional and material.  With German cars you feel the driving experience.  Interior components feel solid and a balance to power and economy are considered in the design of these cars.

The Japanese get reliability.  You don’t feel like your car will every break down on you in a Toyota or Honda. While Japanese are not sexy, they are reliable.

American cars just suck in general. GM and Ford make reliable cars, but they cheapen design and component quality. Dodge/Chrysler needs to move on and go bye bye.  We need a new wave of innovation in this market.  A uniquely American brand that is independent from the big three and fills a niche that the rest of the world hasn’t.  Take queues from BMW and Audi for design and emotional connection with the drivers, but look to Toyota and Nissan for reliability and leave them all behind on innovation.

Thats my take on cars.  If you ask me what to buy–you’ll never hear me suggest any current American offering out there.  

What do you think?

~DK