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American cars made in Canada

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
Canada is celebrating it 150th birthday on today and here is an article about our neighbor to the north.

I found it to be an interesting read.

A foot note, I have a cousin that during his summer vacation from Rose Hulman, a private engineering college in TH, worked at the Chrysler plant in Windsor setting up the assembly line to use old computers to make the first minivan. Cousin said Chrysler got a jump on others by doing everything at the same time. Setting up the assembly line while the design and engineering of minivan was being done, saving years of time.

Happy Birthday Canada.
Made in Canada
 
On Chrysler, and I had their pickups from '84, (Ford in '88 and farm truck in '91) '98 '07, and '09, I was impressed when Walter or the residing CEO at the time, when the original Hemi was being engineered, told engineering that he wanted a 250k mile engine.

Very impressive considering my reading of the GM CEO, back about the time of the fuel crisis (mid '70's general area when it listed his salary at $400k) saying we are going to build what we want and the consumer will just have to buy it...no other choice......hello Japan. Thank you.

Things haven't been the same since......no more rattling doors for half an hour after closing for one....to have this beautiful hard top or convertible, Cadillac included...listen when you see one in a movie, or even a '72 Chevy station wagon with full door frames I had.

Current horse in the stable is a 2011 Silverado....closest dealer, very nice truck....Feds did a good job of managing GM when they had the wheel. Apparently they let the engineers put into production what THEY wanted, not what management wanted to sell.
 
I will agree, the big three learned how to make better cars from Japan. So did Harley. Japan kicked out butts for a while, so much the US put an import tax on the cars, forcing Japan to make their cars in the US. I think it was a win win. We got better cars and more jobs.
 
When I met my wife, 25+ years ago, many in my family would tease her about the fact she drove a Japanese car. Her Honda was made in Ohio, my Ford truck at that time was made in Mexico and we later bought a Dodge minivan made in Canada.
 
Don't get me wrong George, Harleys are a good bike. But I believe they are more made for an older guy wanting to go slow and wanting the look of a big cruiser or something old school. The Japanese do build a few cruising bikes, but I believe their specialty is performance. A Harley couldn't touch a Japanese bike in performance.
 
When I was a kid , 14,000 men worked three shifts in the GM Oshawa plants , one built cars , the other trucks. Today only cars , built by less that 3,000 workers. I understand there is going to be a "flex line" coming to Oshawa , and they will build cars, of different models and trucks , all on the same line. So it could be three cars , then two trucks , another car , followed by 5 trucks, and so on.
 
Back right after WW2 there was some guy who came up wit ha quality control plan and he tried to sell it tot the U.S. companies but they did not want to have any thing to do with it . So he took it to Japan and they wanted it and they have since used it to make many very good produces.
A couple years ago I saw a Chev pickup with a bumper sticker on it that said DO not flag my U.S. flag on your Jap car and all I could do was laugh at ti since my Toyota was made right here in the U.S.A. but his truck was mad in some other country
 
In my estimation, it only takes 10-25% of workers to produce same product today as 20 years ago due to automation, but everyone in US blames the immigrants.
 
Several years ago, when Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota were racing in NASCAR, the Toyotas that raced were the only ones of the four that were made in the U.S.
 
Dr.W Edward Deming,only he called it Quality MANAGEMENT and said that 85% of problems in QC were in management.
 
Best GMC truck I owned was made in Canada. The auto industry loves the Canadian worker because they already have health care and save the union money.
 
Those foreign name tags are ASSEMBLED in the USA. Vast majority of the components are shipped in from overseas. The companies are based overseas so that is where the profits go. I know that some U.S. vehicles are built elsewhere: and: so are some components. BUT. At least the parent company is on u.S. soil and so are the profits (for the most part) . I personally want the money I spend to stay here. (My opinion: I am entitled to it)
 
If I recall late 60's early 70's Japanese put the finical hurts to Harley. Also kicked their butts on the drag strip. Harley had to make an engine that didn't leak oil when parked and easier to start.

Not saying Harleys are bad, just saying the Japanese tough us a lesson in making cars and bikes.

I still think the V twins the Japanese make vibrate less.
 
Heck model "AA" Ford trucks were build in Russia. Henry helped the ruskies before FDR did. The very first truck you see is a model AA Ford stake bed.
Stalingrad
 
Generation one Hemis in cars was 51, it was a result of research they did during the war for a fighter plane engine although some British manufactures already had the hemi head configuration in use. The first generation engines were used until 1985. The second generation was an off shoot of the "B" block engines and was used in production cars from 1964 until 1971 and the third generation started in 2003 and is still in production. My dad used to brag about racing his dad's '53 Desoto with a Hemi claimed one of Chrysler's funny car teams of the 60's was a confirmed Ford man until tangleing with Grandpa's FireDome Desoto at a stoplight one Saturday evening.
 
During the dark years at Harley Davidson they were owned by AMF and the corporate conglomerate management didn't do much for Harley or a lot of other companies in the same boat. After the war a lot of our manufacturers got lazy and weren't updating or improving products and their products weren't keeping up with the competition. International Harvester, once an innovator in tractor design. lagged behind being the last major manufacturer to have some kind of live power/ independent power on their tractors, then they skimped on testing and evaluation on the 560/460 and slid out of the #1 spot they held for years. Part of this was IH leadership was keen to spread out into construction equipment, lawn and garden equipment, refrigeration and other consumer products. Some of the R&D for new products for the new divisions sucked away resources that should of been spent keeping their tractors currant or leading edge. Harley had similar problems while part of AMF, the competition for corporate funds didn't always get assigned to projects that had the long term position of the company in the decision.

W. Edwards Demming was the quality guru that taught the Japanese how to become an industrial power. His work was rejected here in the US but much of Japanese manufacturing embraced it and used it to develop a strong world wide reputation. Again part of Demming's approach continually improve things, at a time when much US industry had a business model of developing a product and making that same product for years and years. Profits remained high when tooling and facilities had already been fully depreciated, and yes much of our production capacity after the war was from plants that were built to support the war effort.
 
You are mistaken on parts shipped from overseas. Honda actually builds and ships complete cars from Ohio to Japan and the parts for to build the cars over there. There are at least 7 Honda parts plants close to me plus the assembly plant.
 
Check out the blown "mils" in drag racing over the years. Count the Hemis, then count the others. Check the winners. I'm not a Chrysler lover. All have had their ups and downs over the years. I just like to see people investing their time and talents to benefit others especially when you can't separate yourself from the "We'll build what we want as they (the American motoring public) don't have another choice"......or something to that effect....been 30 years since I heard it! We deserve better from CEOs especially at their rediculous 20 Mil. (thereabouts) per year salaries.....that we, the consumer have to pay for in things we purchase.
 
Some! Ref: Wheels for the World, (Henry Ford, his company, and a century of progress), Douglas Brinkley. Makes for fantastic reading of an interesting part of American history.
 
"Juran on Quality". I took the course at the company where I was employed. We followed the teachings and won the Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award at least once.
 
Made in USA or not, I can guarantee if and when we need to build war machines in our car plants, the foreign owned will not allow it! That includes Chrysler now!
 
(quoted from post at 09:33:15 07/01/17) In my estimation, it only takes 10-25% of workers to produce same product today as 20 years ago due to automation, but everyone in US blames the immigrants.
Click to expand...

Manufacturing has become a global business. The auto industry still builds engines and other high value systems in the US, but mostly out of imported parts. In 1980, GM produced 80% of everything that went into a car, Ford 50% , Chrysler 30%. I doubt that any of them are higher than 10% now. The base manufacturing, the components, are imported. This has caused a big drop in employment, but automation is probably about equal.

In 1980, we had a cylinder block line with about 300 jobs. The same capacity line had 105 jobs in 1990. The last one, 2000, about 40.

1980, our plant had about 400 people in matieral handling. By 2000, about 20. Lots due to automation, but you don't need folks to move parts you don't make.....

Engine production is split between Mexico and the US, ( mostly) but most components have some Mexican or Chinese content.
Engine and transmission plants mostly assemble purchased parts.

Modular design has played a part also. Instead of replacing a faulty odometer, the whole instrument cluster gets replaced.
 
(reply to post at 09:46:07 07/01/17) [/quot


I'd not go so far as to say 85% QC problems are the fault of mgt.but a lot is.I knew one manager who could not have cared less about quality UNTIL something hit the fan and then it was all manufacturing's fault.
Click to expand...
 

Gm changed a lot in 5-6 years if they were building 80% of parts in 1980.
From 84-89 I was hauling automotive parts for suppliers to assembly plants, JIT delivery. I remember reading in a trade mag at one of the plants around 85-87 that 35% of parts in all GM automobiles where US made.
37% of Chrysler parts where US
45% of Ford was US made
At that time 52% of all Toyota auto's where built with US made parts.
Where corporate profits go doesn't mean anything to me much because I don't get any of that, but it appears to me that Toyota,Honda, ect. have reinvested more of their profits back into more plants built in the US by US construction workers, maned by US assembly line workers and supported by US located sub-assembly mfg's, delivered to those plants by US transportation.
US branded companies are building plants in other countries by construction workers from that country and operated by workers from that country and so on.

The bottom line is more US jobs are created and supported by companies that build or retain plants in the US, no matter where those corporate headquarters are located.

As for cars built in Canada, that's been going on almost since to automobile was invented.
 
Last I heard a few years ago Honda was using over 90% made in USA parts. A lot of the factorys are not Honda owned but suppliers to them. And most of the plants are here in Ohio, Indiana I understand has a few but I don't know of any in any other state. And I am driving Dodge Dakota trucks because that is the only vehical made in that size by any company.
 
I thought the only difference in Canadian built cars was the speedometer. US were miles for US shipped and CA were meters.
 
(quoted from post at 12:41:46 07/01/17) Canada is celebrating it 150th birthday on today and here is an article about our neighbor to the north.

I found it to be an interesting read.

A foot note, I have a cousin that during his summer vacation from Rose Hulman, a private engineering college in TH, worked at the Chrysler plant in Windsor setting up the assembly line to use old computers to make the first minivan. Cousin said Chrysler got a jump on others by doing everything at the same time. Setting up the assembly line while the design and engineering of minivan was being done, saving years of time.

Happy Birthday Canada.

[color=green:dca17a80b5]My '73 Gran Torino Sport (with a 351 Windsor) had a tag clearly stating "Made in Canada"!
[/color:dca17a80b5]
Click to expand...
 
Here is my Windsor, Ontario , Canada built 52 Mercury. All the Ford products I've ever seen here were Canadian built. And don't forget all the International trucks that came out of Hamilton (Chatham) Ontario. We also had our own unique Canadian Pontiacs in the 50s. Known as "Cheviacs" by some they were a bit different to the U.S. version.
161.jpg
 
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