Quality difference between Mexico and USA

Yeah we had the 884wd in the USA
Master ace surf, glass roof

 

So business model is the reason between a junk Chrysler 200 and an amazing corolla/civic?


How about Nissan ? Build amazing Patrol but low quality versa?

 

Yeah. Give me a minute for my response.

 

Take your time

Will check back later tonight

 

@hiPSI - I have traveled the world in the worst places only for over thirty years. Part of my experience tells me that if you are going to purchase a product, you should do so where the culture is personally attached to the pride they have in that product. Again, I could not discern any difference in quality between my Mexican-built 17 Taco and my Texas-built 17 Taco. Would there be a difference if they were built in Japan? My gut is yes. However, if they used American steel in that same Japanese location, we would have much better results as far as rust... 'nother subject

 

All you have to do is take a look at some of the build threads here on TW to see that.

 

Hello...is this thing on? Alright here we go...
Untill recently domestic manufacturers(with the exception of Their bread and butter [TRUCKS]) have traded quality for profit margins.
Conversely, Foreign brands, who never have, and never will be able to gain market share in the truck segment..took to focusing on quality, affordability, and reliability.
Chipping away at market share in segments they knew they could make ground in, thru sheer brand loyalty, that was built on the quality of their products.
Ok big 3 you can have trucks, we will do everything else, and we will do it better.
Better build quality, better materials, better gas mileage, crash management, better residual value.
And then using inovation, they created brand new segments they could be out in front of, and dominate in.
Look at how many SUVs Toyota had before SUVs were even a thing. They have been out in front of trends before they even existed.

Domestic manufacturers tried to combat them with the stigma of built in the USA, and imports said well fuck you, we will build our vehicles in the most American places of America, like Kentucky and Indiana and Texas.

The ridiculousness of gas prices in the early 2000’s perpetuated this. Foreign manufacturers started getting lighter, started getting more fuel efficient..started using their profits to explore hybrid fuel technologies and advanced materials like aluminum and carbon.
We all know what the big 3 were doing around that time, continuing to rely on their bread and butter, while shedding brands and getting bailouts.
Only then did they start to re-org, switch priorities, and try to make up for the transgressions, and the irreversible harm they had done to their brands.
But there is way too much ground to cover now.

They didn’t think hybrid technology was a thing, so they never invested into it, and had to resort to buying the technology from companies that already developed it.

CAFE standards, met by Toyota before it ever became a mandate.

ADAS technology, standard in almost every model line of Toyota and Honda well before the requirement.

Look at the current trend of CUV’s.. and how companies like Mercedes and BMW now offer some sort of crossover to every one of their model lines.

Domestic manufacturers are so far behind, trying to build back the erosion of everything else besides their trucks that they will never catch up.
Watch a Chevy commercial, they are just now trying to trumpet quality that they should have been fucused on two decades ago

How did I do?

 

Your first example is correct. Your second example is simply market demographics. Charge what your customers in a certain demo can pay.

Let's compare a few vehicles:
A Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota 4Runner and Toyota Land Cruiser. They all could conceivably be cross shopped by someone looking to buy a new SUV. Let's think what the customer would get from each vehicle. We will start with features. Which vehicle will have the best features? Not Toyota right? How about reliability and durability? Toyota wins handily. Luxury? Again, not Toyota. Capability? Toyota wins again.
Now, why? Why are there such big differences and it's basically the same size vehicle right? The answer is simply different business models.

Price point is key here.Yeah, the Land Cruiser can get ridiculous but bear with me for a minute. The Jeep and 4Runner for sure are going after the same target demographic. For the price, you can put your money in all kind of cool gadgets and tech or put your money in more robust design, but not both. That kicks you out of your price point and puts you in Land Cruiser price, which is what happens when you put luxury and durability together.

Bottom line, some companies (Toyota) engineers their vehicles for reliability and durability and not many gadgets. Jeep has lots of cool gadgets (heated steering wheel for example) but not much in the way of reliability.

Now let's look at price. How can those guys knock $10K off the price up front? How can Toyota give nothing off up front? How can either company make money? Well, both companies make money lol, just different ways. Again, business models.
Many companies (GM, Jeep, Ford) have a HUGE service parts business. Like, really big. Other companies (Toyota, Honda) have a much smaller service parts business. Service parts also have a huge margin.
So, companies can make money one of two ways... up front by making a profit on the initial sale or on the back end with service parts. You can't have both though, the market will not let you. So, that's why some manufacturers will sell their vehicles at their cost (or even lose money in some cases like Mercedes) and make their profit on service parts. Other manufacturers don't sell enough service parts to make much money there (reliable and durable) so they have to make money up front. There are your different models.

But wait... how did they get to that point? That's easy. Engineers. As an engineer I can design something one of two ways and keep the same cost: I can make something with a ton of features or I can make something with a ton of reliability and durability. Both will end up costing the same but one will not last a long time before failing some way and one will last but it won't have a heated steering wheel lol. Either way is fine because the customer is out there for both types.

So there you go. When comparing manufacturers, it's not the workers or location that determines the quality. It's simply their business model. Some companies (Nissan, Ford, etc) actually do both but not with the same vehicle. I'll use your Patrol and Versa as an example. GM uses both business models to a certain extent but uses them in different markets, like China and the US. Toyota only uses one model.

Your question will be "What about Lexus" right? Lexus is simply a Toyota (reliability and durability) with a bunch of added gadgets, and they charge extra for that and still don't give any money back on initial purchase.

There you go. The whole story.

 

My 68 911 was one of the funnest vw I have ever owned

 

Nope....worldwide program....Started on Europe....and has spread all over the world....

 

that just goes to show he knows absolutely nothing about quality or six sigma

 

That's why you always hope for that "built on wednesday" truck!

 

two of us

 

Who governs it and sets the standards?

 

yes to that....i have travelled back and forth to Bangkok for the past 9 years looking after our major suppliers of laser and power supplies....that vehicle was give to me each time i was there for three each visit....Wonderful.transportation....I go there for three weeks every quarter along with my Japan and China visits.

 

It is a world body of quality professionals organized to propagate worldwide quality standards and practices....the ISO program has numerous standards, from manufacturing, to testing, chemical analysis to just about everything we use in our lives....From cars to lasers for eye surgery to Abbott labs and the Pharmas for drugs.......just google it.....There are many registers out there who are certified to perform ISO adults....each one has a long standing with the ISO board....but if i were to have my company registered, I would not use Perry Johnson.......over the last 5-10 years, what used to be a good organization has turned ISO into a money making way to make a living...Many companies will not give you a second look if you are no ISO registered and certified to ISO 9001....I believe the current version is ISO 9008...Its been a while.

 

try this:

https://www.iso.org/the-iso-story.html

 

YAY

 

First, appreciate your time!


Since I was a kid, I would read magazines and they would say about their sedans....this is the time they will compete with the Japanese. I feel like Ihave heard that all my life. Don't you think long term profit margin would be helped by consistent good products?

Your post was fantastic. Definitely learned a lot from the domestic car company POV, and the WHY behind the poor quality products

As you said previously.....all in the business plan