Hate Seeing American Jobs Go Overseas? How do you feel about the opposite?

International automakers like Toyota and Honda have a positive impact on the U.S. economy.

John Bozzella, president and CEO of Global Automakers and spokesman for Here For America had an interesting comment for the press recently. He said, "International automakers accounted for nearly half of all U.S. auto production last year and exported over 750,000 of these vehicles to countries around the world." It is a weird concept at first, but automakers with names we associate with being from Japan, Italy, Korea, and Germany in-source in America. They bring jobs into the country.

Back before 2008 writing about international brands like Honda and Toyota doing business in America was like being a piñata. Do the story, get beaten up by readers for “Helping send jobs and profits overseas.” Then every domestic brand in America basically went belly up. Ford pawned its logo for cash. GM got a taxpayer bailout on the order of tens of billions of dollars, a tax-free pass for the indefinite future, and protection from liability in recall cases. The company formerly known as Chrysler, which had been owned by a German-based automaker once already, became part of a company HQ’d in Europe led by an Italian guy. It was all worth it in the end though.

One wake up call was that the "foreign" automakers doing business in the U.S. for many generations didn’t need a bailout. People in the media started to realize that companies like Toyota Motor Sales, were headquartered in places like California and Texas. And they were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Then came the realization that the most popular cars in America, and the most popular mid-size pickup truck were made in the U.S.A., presumably by Americans. Otherwise the commute is brutal.

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