Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

It is a passion of mine to argue against the purchase Japanese cars-for the simple reason that doing so supports unfair competition. To give you a minute idea of what I am talking about, the Japanese government takes measures to ensure that its' currency, the Yen, stays weak. This allows Japanese manufacturers, such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan to make about $2,000 more per $25,000 vehicle they sell here in the U.S. Even the most avid Japanese car enthusiast acknowledges that this is an unfair practice which severely limits the ability of makers like Ford Motor Company and General Motors to be competitive. In the paper, I plan to address common misconceptions that the public has made about Japanese and American auto manufactures and try to convince the reader to make their next automobile purchase non-Japanese, if not from ford or GM. I would begin by researching the unfair practices which contribute to weakening the Japanese Yen. I would also research misconceptions such as "Japanese cars are way more reliable than American cars", or "Japanese manufacturers are more American than Ford or GM". I plan to address my letter to people planning on buying a new or newer car from a dealership, and also the leaders of the world so that they can take measures to make the automanufacturers compete more fairly. I will look at what has happened to companies who are battling competitors who are not competing fairly.John? 15:12, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

Link1:

http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1127/048a.html

"Why Detroit can't Compete"

This a link to an article from Forbes magazine. It states that toyota, nissan, and other Japanese automakers get $2,400 per vehicle more than GM or Ford. This is money they are able to spend on research and development of their new vehicles, which GM and Ford do not. This will help me give a history of the problem, and show that it still exists.John? 15:12, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

Link2:

JDPower

"JD Power and Associates 2006 Vehicle Dependability Survey"

This link to an image which shows that three of the top four least problem prone makes are "Detroit" based. My solution to this problem is to do something that would show people (not just Americans) that buying Japanese cars hurts honest people. However, people buy Japanese cars mostly because they believe that they are reliable and last a long time. This chart will help to dismiss that claim and show people that American cars are very reliable.John? 15:12, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

Link3:

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/buick/grand_national/

"Hemmings, Buick Grand National"

This link is similar to the one above. Many people believe that American cars have bad resale value, but that is only true when they are underengineered. Now that all but a handful of American cars are about as well built and reliable as Japanese cars, they will hold their value about as well. The 1987 Buick Grand National is worth about $20,000 on average. John? 15:39, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

Link4:

http://cars.about.com/od/pontiac/fr/07_solstice_gxp.htm

"2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP Test Drive"

This link shows another sterotype, American cars use a lot of gas, is also false. The Pontiac Solstice GXP is one example, it is rated at 22/31mpg, whereas a comparable Honda S2000 is rated at 20/25mpg.John? 15:39, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

More coming!

Link5:

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2005/07/why_gm_is_so_op.html

"Why GM is so oppressed by legacy costs"

This link shows that GM has many times more retirees to pay for than do Toyota or Honda. Although some argue that this is GM's own fault, one must admit that GM is responsible for the income of nearly 1 million Americans, it would be most unwise for people to continue buy Honda's and Toyota's since these retirees will stop being paid if GM goes under. This link again helps make my case for buying new cars from GM and Ford, since they have much the same problem.John? 22:17, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

Link6:

http://cars.about.com/b/a/216948.htm

Saturn Aura wins 2007 North American Car of the Year--Should it have?

This link shows that Detroit can still make cars that auto journalists feel is a better value than the absolute best from Japan. This shows that American quality has gotten to a level that is extremely competitive with that of Japanese cars. I will tie all the "good news" about American cars together so that readers will see that American quality is excellent, and there is no longer a reason for them to buy Japanese cars. In fact, there is a reason not to-they support unfair competition.John? 22:17, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

5 Print Resources:

Fuller, Marc. "Japan's Business Renaissance". (c) 2005. McGraw-Hill.

Mordoukoutas, Panos. "New Emerging Japanese Economy". (c) 2005. South-Western English Publication

Okimoto, Daniel. "Inside the Japanese System". (c) 1997. Stanford University Press.

Vogel, Steven Kent. "Japan Remodeled". (c) 2006. Cornell University Press.

Wood, Christopher. "The Bubble Economy". (c) 2005. Solstice Publishing.