Let’s face it, American brands like Ford, Chrysler and GM are notorious for their gas guzzling SUV’s and economy models with often shoddy quality but all that is about to change. If you are planning to import used left hand drive (LHD) cars from the US, your options just got better.
To survive against the manufacturing efficiency of the Japanese, the design brilliance of the Germans and their ongoing struggle with the unions, Detroit’s Big Three are striving to decrease overheads, increase productivity and improve product quality. This frantic struggle for competitiveness, coupled by aggressive investments of foreign auto makers in the country has led to a surge of relatively cheaper, more reliable and not to mention better looking LHD cars.
LHD buyers who crave for the quality, safety features and fuel efficiency of Japanese cars used to import directly from Japan and then have the right hand drive (RHD) units converted to LHD. Steering conversions can present certain disadvantages. Incompetent conversions can compromise the road worthiness, safeness and even performance and handling of the vehicle. Not to mention the fact that it entails an additional cost.
Fortunately, original LHD’s by popular Japanese makers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan are widely available in the US. In fact, the “Made in USA” label which used to be proudly flaunted by American brands like Ford and GM is now more appropriate for Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
Consider these cars as examples. Only 35% of the components of the Chrysler’s PT Cruiser are made in the US. And this distinctively “American” car is produced in a car factory in Mexico. Then we have the Ford Fusion which contains only 30% US-made components. On the other hand, Toyota Camry contains 80% US-made components, Honda Accord 70% and Nissan Altima 65%. They are also produced in car plants across America.
Although it gets harder to define what an “American car” is nowadays, what is more important is that excellent cars from the US – both Japanese and American brands – are finding their way across the globe as new or used car exports. If you factor in the current weakness of the U.S. dollar, then a lot of great bargains can be had for car dealers as well as end users in countries fortunate enough to use left hand drives.
Edon Canada
ecanada@autoterminal.com
AutoTerminal.com Americas
To survive against the manufacturing efficiency of the Japanese, the design brilliance of the Germans and their ongoing struggle with the unions, Detroit’s Big Three are striving to decrease overheads, increase productivity and improve product quality. This frantic struggle for competitiveness, coupled by aggressive investments of foreign auto makers in the country has led to a surge of relatively cheaper, more reliable and not to mention better looking LHD cars.
LHD buyers who crave for the quality, safety features and fuel efficiency of Japanese cars used to import directly from Japan and then have the right hand drive (RHD) units converted to LHD. Steering conversions can present certain disadvantages. Incompetent conversions can compromise the road worthiness, safeness and even performance and handling of the vehicle. Not to mention the fact that it entails an additional cost.
Fortunately, original LHD’s by popular Japanese makers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan are widely available in the US. In fact, the “Made in USA” label which used to be proudly flaunted by American brands like Ford and GM is now more appropriate for Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
Consider these cars as examples. Only 35% of the components of the Chrysler’s PT Cruiser are made in the US. And this distinctively “American” car is produced in a car factory in Mexico. Then we have the Ford Fusion which contains only 30% US-made components. On the other hand, Toyota Camry contains 80% US-made components, Honda Accord 70% and Nissan Altima 65%. They are also produced in car plants across America.
Although it gets harder to define what an “American car” is nowadays, what is more important is that excellent cars from the US – both Japanese and American brands – are finding their way across the globe as new or used car exports. If you factor in the current weakness of the U.S. dollar, then a lot of great bargains can be had for car dealers as well as end users in countries fortunate enough to use left hand drives.
Edon Canada
ecanada@autoterminal.com
AutoTerminal.com Americas
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